Detection and characterisation of intergranular stress‐corrosion cracking on austenitic stainless steel

Abstract Intergranular stress‐corrosion cracking (IGSCC) on a sensitised type AISI 304 stainless steel specimen was monitored simultaneously by acoustic emission, electrochemical noise, elongation measurements and a digital imaging system. The specimen was exposed to an aqueous sodium thiosulphate solution in combination with a constant load. It was established that before the final fracture two large cracks and numerous smaller cracks had developed. Detection and characterisation of the stress‐corrosion processes which generated these cracks are discussed. The results confirm and generalise previously established correlations between various parameters obtained by the implemented characterisation methods and IGSCC processes. Additionally, a clear differentiation between crack related and crack non‐related AE signals was made based on an analysis of the AE signals. The relationship between the crack lengths calculated by means of digital image correlation analysis and the electrochemical current noise was also established.