Corrosion Fatigue of Austenitic Stainless Steel in Different Hot Chloride Solutions

Austenitic stainless steel was investigated under cyclic loading in electrolytes with different chloride contents and pH and at different temperatures. The testing solutions were 13.2 % NaCl (80,000 ppm <TEX>Cl⁻</TEX>) at <TEX>80∘C</TEX>and 43 % <TEX>CaCl₂</TEX> (275,000 ppm <TEX>Cl⁻</TEX>) at <TEX>120∘C</TEX>. In addition to S-N curves in inert and corrosive media, the fracture surfaces were investigated with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to analyse the type of attack. The experimental results showed that a sharp decrease in corrosion fatigue properties can be correlated with the occurrence of stress corrosion cracking. The correlation of occurring types of damage in different corrosion systems is described.