This chapter discusses five forms of mechanically assisted degradation of metals: erosion, fretting, fretting fatigue, cavitation and water drop impingement, and corrosion fatigue. Emphasis is placed on the mechanisms and the factors affecting these forms of degradation.

This chapter is a detailed study of the localized corrosion behavior of steel, copper, and aluminum alloys. It applies the basic principles of electrochemistry, as well as materials science and solid and fluid mechanics, to explain the causes and effects of pitting, crevice corrosion, stress corrosion cracking, and corrosion fatigue. It describes the underlying mechanisms associated with each process and how they relate to the microstructure of the metal or alloy, the physical condition of the surface, and other factors such as the coupling of the metal to a dissimilar metal or surface film.

This chapter discusses the conditions and sequence of events that lead to stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) and the mechanisms by which it progresses. It explains that the stresses involved in SCC are relatively small and, in most cases, work in combination with the development of a surface film. It describes bulk and surface reactions that contribute to SCC, including dissolution, mass transport, absorption, diffusion, and embrittlement, and their role in crack nucleation and growth. It also discusses crack tip chemistry, grain-boundary interactions, and the effect of stress-intensity on crack propagation rates, and describes several mechanical fracture models, including corrosion tunnel, film-induced cleavage, and tarnish rupture models.

This chapter focuses on stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) of metals and their alloys. It is intended to familiarize the reader with the phenomenological and mechanistic aspects of stress corrosion. The phenomenological description of crack initiation and propagation describes well-established experimental evidence and observations of stress corrosion, while the discussions on mechanisms describe the physical process involved in crack initiation and propagation. Several parameters that are known to influence the rate of crack growth in aqueous solutions are presented, along with important fracture features.

This chapter addresses the challenge of selecting an appropriate stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) test to evaluate the serviceability of a material for a given application. It begins by establishing a generic model in which SCC is depicted in two stages, initiation and propagation, that further subdivide into several zones plus a transition region. It then discusses SCC test standards before describing basic test objectives and selection criteria. The chapter explains how to achieve the required loading conditions for different tests and how to prepare test specimens to determine elastic strain, plastic strain, and residual stress responses. It also describes the difference between smooth and precracked specimens and how they are used, provides information on slow-strain-rate testing and how to assess the results, and discusses various test environments and procedures, including tests for weldments. The chapter concludes with a section on how to interpret time to failure, threshold stress, percent survival, stress intensity, and propagation rate data, and assess the precision of the associated tests.

This chapter describes nondestructive evaluation (NDE) test methods and their relative effectiveness for diagnosing the cause of stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) service failures. It discusses procedures for analyzing various types of damage in carbon and low-alloy steels, high-strength low-alloy steels, hardenable stainless steels, austenitic stainless steels, copper-base alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, aluminum and aluminum alloys, and nickel and nickel alloys. It identifies material-environment combinations where SCC is known to occur, provides guidelines on how to characterize cracking and fracture damage, and explains what to look for during macroscopic and microscopic examinations as well as chemical and metallographic analyses. It also includes nearly a dozen case studies investigating SCC failures in various materials.

This chapter describes the conditions under which copper-base alloys are susceptible to stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) and some of the environmental factors, such as temperature, pH, and corrosion potential, that influence crack growth and time to failure. It explains that, although most of the literature has been concerned with copper zinc alloys in ammoniacal solutions, there are a number of alloy-environment combinations where SCC has been observed. The chapter discusses several of these cases and the effect of various application parameters, including composition, microstructure, heat treatment, cold working, and stress intensity. It also provides information on stress-corrosion testing, mitigation techniques, and basic cracking mechanisms.

Uranium alloys are used in applications requiring dense metals, but they have little resistance to oxidation and corrosion and are susceptible to environmentally assisted cracking, particularly when processed to high strength levels. This chapter describes the conditions under which uranium alloys are most prone to cracking. It discusses testing and characterization methods, cracking phenomenology, material properties, and microstructure. It also provides suggestions for avoiding and overcoming environmentally assisted cracking problems.

This chapter reviews weld corrosion in three key application areas: petroleum refining and petrochemical operations, boiling water reactor piping systems, and components used in pulp and paper plants. The discussion of each area addresses general design and service characteristics, types of weld corrosion issues, and prevention or mitigation strategies.

This chapter discusses common forms of corrosion, including uniform corrosion, galvanic corrosion, pitting, crevice corrosion, dealloying corrosion, intergranular corrosion, and exfoliation. It describes the factors that contribute to stress-corrosion cracking, hydrogen embrittlement, and corrosion fatigue and compares and contrasts their effects on mechanical properties, performance, and operating life. It also includes information on high-temperature oxidation and corrosion prevention techniques.

Nickel and nickel-base alloys are specified for many applications, such as oil and gas production, power generation, and chemical processing, because of their resistance to stress-corrosion cracking (SCC). Under certain conditions, however, SCC can be a concern. This chapter describes the types of environments and stress loads where nickel-base alloys are most susceptible to SCC. It begins with a review of the physical metallurgy of nickel alloys, focusing on the role of carbides and intermetallic phases. It then explains how SCC occurs in the presence of halides (such as chlorides, bromides, iodides, and fluorides), sulfur-bearing compounds (such as H2S and sulfur-oxyanions), high-temperature and supercritical water, and caustics (such as NaOH), while accounting for temperature, composition, microstructure, properties, environmental contaminants, and other factors. The chapter also discusses the effects of hydrogen embrittlement and provides information on test methods.

This chapter discusses the techniques applicable to the diagnosis of corrosion failures, including visual and microscopic examination of corroded surfaces and microstructure; chemical analysis of the metal, corrosion products, and bulk environment; nondestructive evaluation methods; corrosion testing techniques; and mechanical testing techniques. A guide to investigative techniques used in corrosion failure analysis is provided in a table, describing the advantages and limitations of each technique. The principal stages of the investigation and analysis of corrosion failures discussed in the chapter are: collection of background information and sampling; preliminary laboratory examination; detailed metallographic and fractographic examinations; chemical analysis of corrosion products and bulk materials; corrosion testing for quality control; mechanical testing for quality control; and analysis of results and report writing.

This chapter takes a practical approach to the problem of stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) in stainless steels, explaining how different application environments affect different grades of stainless steel. It describes the causes of stress-corrosion cracking in chloride, caustic, polythionic acid, and high-temperature environments and the correlating effects on austenitic, ferritic, duplex, martensitic, and precipitation hardening stainless steels and nickel-base alloys. It also discusses the contributing effects of sensitization and hydrogen embrittlement and the role of composition, microstructure, and thermal history. Sensitization is particularly detrimental to austenitic stainless steels, and in many cases, eliminating it will eliminate the susceptibility to SCC. The chapter includes an extensive amount of data and illustrations.

This chapter explores the behavior of stainless steel in media that promote corrosion. The forms of corrosion covered are uniform corrosion, atmospheric corrosion, localized corrosion, pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion, and grain boundary corrosion. The chapter discusses the influence of material and environmental variables on stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) and the mechanisms proposed for SCC in stainless steel, comparing the mechanism of SCC with hydrogen embrittlement. In addition, it provides information on biocorrosion and microbiologically induced corrosion in ambient aqueous environments.

This chapter describes the use of standardized tests to determine the susceptibility of aluminum alloys to specific forms of corrosion, including pitting, intergranular corrosion, filiform corrosion, exfoliation corrosion, and stress-corrosion cracking.

Stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) in magnesium alloys was first reported in the 1930s and, within ten years, became the focus of intense study. This chapter provides a summary of all known work published since then on the nature of SCC in magnesium alloys and how it is related to composition, microstructure, and heat treatment. It describes the types of environments where magnesium alloys are most susceptible to SCC and the effect of contributing factors such as temperature, strain rate, and applied and residual stresses. The chapter also discusses crack morphology and what it reveals, provides information on proposed cracking mechanisms, and presents a practical approach for preventing SCC.

This chapter provides an introduction to various forms of corrosion, namely uniform corrosion, localized corrosion, mechanically assisted degradation, environmentally induced cracking, microbiologically influenced corrosion, and metallurgically influenced corrosion.

This chapter first covers some basic principles of electrochemical corrosion and then some of the various types of corrosion. Some of the more common types of corrosion discussed include uniform corrosion, galvanic corrosion, pitting, crevice corrosion, erosion-corrosion, cavitation, fretting corrosion, intergranular corrosion, exfoliation, dealloying corrosion, stress-corrosion cracking, and corrosion fatigue. The chapter discusses the processes involved in corrosion control by retarding either the anodic or cathodic reactions. The rate of corrosion is reduced by conditioning of the metal, by conditioning the environment, and by electrochemical control. Finally, the chapter deals with high-temperature oxidation that usually occurs in the absence of moisture.

This chapter outlines the major types of corrosion, their interactions, their complicating effects on fracture and wear, and some possible prevention methods. The types of corrosion considered in the chapter are galvanic corrosion, uniform corrosion, pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion, microbiologically influenced corrosion, stress-corrosion cracking, and corrosion fatigue.