Preface to the Second Edition

Research activity in the field of stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) was fairly robust in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Although research efforts continued beyond 1990, they were more focused and funding for large research groups dropped considerably. The publication of the first edition of this book coincided with 20 years of significant research activity so that there was a considerable amount of data available to warrant a book on this subject. It has now been more than 20 years since the first edition and sufficient selective research has accumulated to the point that a revision of this book is warranted. However, not all subjects have received sufficient new data and analysis to warrant a revision, thus the revision covers selective chapters.

Some of the selective research includes the development of crack tip chemistry analysis and modeling covered in Chapter 1; stress-corrosion cracking of low-strength steels in alcohol covered in Chapter 2; additional research of SCC in a few newer high-strength steels covered in Chapter 3; a significant amount of new data in SCC of stainless steels and nickel-base alloys covered in Chapters 4 and 5; the inclusion of SCC of copper alloys in potable water covered in Chapter 7; and hydrogen induced cracking of aluminum alloys covered in Chapter 8. The text and references of Chapter 11 were updated. Additional case studies and a section on high-strength low-alloy steels were added to Chapter 18. Also, included in this second edition is an appendix of relevant standards pertaining to SCC.

A special thanks to John Sedriks who passed away before he was able to see this edition published. Chapter 4, Stress-Corrosion Cracking of Stainless Steels, was revised by John.