Determination of Stress Corrosion Crack Initiation Stress and Crack Velocities Using Slowly Strained Tapered Specimens

Previous work has shown that a single tapered cylindrical specimen subjected to slow strain rate testing can provide data for the crack initiation stress of 70/30 brass in 1N NaNO2 solution. In order to test the wider applicability of that technique, crack initiation stresses of a further five systems were measured. These were 70/30 brass in an ammoniacal solution, copper in sodium nitrite and mild steel in carbonate–bicarbonate, hydroxide or nitrate solutions. The results are compared with those obtained from tests on plain cylindrical specimens subjected to interrupted slow strain rate tests or to constant load tests, and the agreement is reasonable. The method also is capable of providing data on the stress dependence of crack velocities.