Propagation of stress-corrosion cracks in austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

Sensitive (<50 Å) extension measurements on direct-loaded wires of a susceptible austenitic Cr–Ni steel have revealed no discontinuities during crack propagation although the fracture surfaces are generally striated on a scale of ～0· 2 μ. These results are taken as support for the continuous mechano-chemical theory of propagation and a detailed crack model is proposed.