Evidence of intergranular attack in the absence of stress, together with dissolution kinetics, indicate that the intergranular stress corrosion cracking of ferritic steels in various environments is by a dissolution mechanism. Film rupture can play an important role in the rate of growth of cracks, but film rupture is not the mechanism of growth. The dual requirements of dissolution and filming, to sustain crack growth in the crack tip region, indicate the need for the system to display an active-passive transition in those regions of potential where cracking occurs, and such are observed. The localization of dissolution in grain boundary regions is due to the presence of segregates or precipitates, but there is need of appropriate measurements in this area if some the details of the mechanism of cracking are to be fully understood.

Subject
Ferritic steel, Films, Steel surfaces, Intergranular stress corrosion cracking, Dissolution, Free corrosion potential, Intergranular cracking, Corrosion attacks, Nitrates, Intergranular stress, Steel, Grain boundary, Stress corrosion cracking
Keywords:
Ferritic steels, intergranular corrosion, intergranular stress corrosion cracking, environmental effects, grain boundaries, segregates, precipitates
© 1995 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1995
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
You do not currently have access to this content.