U K CHATTERJEE
1. Introduction
Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) may be defined as the delayed failure of alloys by
cracking when exposed to certain environments in the presence of a static tensile stress.
The importance of a conjoint action of corrosion and stress as well as the nature of
stress is reflected in the definition. The stress level at which the failure occurs is well
below the stress required for a mechanical failure in the absence of corrosion. Again,
corrosion alone in the absence of stress does not produce cracking. The stress can be
applied or residual. A compressive stress does not cause stress corrosion cracking,
rather it is used to prevent this phenomenon. Environmentally induced crack propaga-
tion due to cyclic loading is not stress corrosion cracking, but is defined as corrosion
fatigue. Environmentally induced cracking in the presence of stress is also encountered
in non-metallic materials, e.g. glass and alumina in water or organic polymers in polar
solvents. The discussion in the present paper will, however, be confined to SCC in
metallic materials.
The earliest report on SCC is probably the occurrence of "season cracking' in brass
cartridge cases in ammonia-bearing environments in the beginning of the present
century. Caustic embrittlement of riveted steel boiler plates is another classical
example of SCC encountered in the early steam-driven locomotives. The causes of SCC
in this case were the residual stress developed due to riveting operations and sodium
165
166 U K Chatterjee