Effects of anodic inhibitors on stress corrosion cracking of a high strength steel in aqueous environments

Abstract

Using the concepts of linear elastic fracture mechanics, the effects of two anodic inhibitors, potassium chromate and sodium benzoate, on the susceptibility to environmentally induced cracking of a high strength steel (817M40) in aqueous solutions were investigated. These results indicated that an anodic type inhibitor which operates by an adsorption mechanism is effective in reducing the rate of environmentally induced crack growth and may increase the threshold stress intensity. The results also suggest that the mechanism of environmentally induced cracking of this steel in aqueous solutions is more likely to be controlled by anodic dissolution than by hydrogen embrittlement. To confirm this, an attempt is made to show that a hydrogen embrittlement mechanism fails to explain these results, which can easily be explained by an anodic dissolution mechanism.

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