Corrosion cracking of low alloy steels. Testing methods

The paper presents a brief overview of modern literature describing the mechanisms behind stress corrosion cracking of low-alloy steels in aqueous environments saturated with aggressive gases, such as hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide, where atomic hydrogen is produced due to electrochemical reactions, subsequently penetrating the metal in the locations where it is dissolved or other surface defects are present. We described the main testing methods for stress corrosion cracking, their differences, and the criteria for assessing the corrosion cracking tendency of steels. Examples were given for applying metallographic and electrochemical analysis to explore the mechanism of stress corrosion cracking in the given steels.