Abstract
The initiation and propagation of corrosion-fatigue. cracks have been examined for a 1% C–1% Cr steel subjected to a range of stresses and cycling speeds in chloride media. The results indicate that the corrosion-fatigue process can be divided into a number of stages:
(i) preliminary pitting,
(ii) anodically controlled dissolution at the base of the pit,
(iii) resistance-controlled dissolution,
(iv) mechanical fatigue,
(v) brittle fracture.
Stage (ii) is attributed to yield-assisted dissolution during the tensile part of each cycle.
The propagation of corrosion-fatigue cracks was often found to be faster in air than in the solution in which they were formed, which is consistent with the view that the role of the environment in corrosion fatigue is mainly one of facilitating fatigue crack nucleation.
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