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Environmental Cracking - Corrosion Fatigue
Environmental Cracking - Corrosion Fatigue
Corrosion Fatigue
26
Richard P. Gangloff 1
l, d
f, b
f, c
Nf
Ni
NT
da/dN
a
N
K
A, m
KTH
R
f
1/f
KISCC
da/dt
EC
E
Keff
Kcl
Ko
C
da/dtf
CF
SCC
HCF
LCF
FCP
HEE
H
HCP
LEFM
SN
CP
cpm
Mode I
Nomenclature
p
T
Mode II
1
Professor and Chair, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903.
BASIC PRINCIPLES
Fundamentals of Corrosion Fatigue
Definition
Corrosion fatigue is defined as the sequential stages of
metal damage that evolve with accumulated load cycling, in
an aggressive environment compared to inert or benign surroundings, and resulting from the interaction of irreversible
cyclic plastic deformation with localized chemical or electrochemical reactions. Environment-enhanced fatigue is a modern term; however, corrosion fatigue is traditionally used
when emphasizing electrochemical environments. Mechanical fatigue experiments and analyses, detailed in recent
textbooks [68], provide the basis for understanding CF.
Mechanisms
It is important to understand damage mechanisms in
order to correctly interpret and extrapolate laboratory CF
data. Similar to SCC, the mechanism for CF may involve
hydrogen embrittlement; film rupture, dissolution and
repassivation; enhanced localized plasticity; interactions of
dislocations with surface dissolution, films or adsorbed atoms; and complex combinations of these processes [916].
The contribution of each mechanism is controversial and
depends on metallurgical and environment (thermal and
chemical) variables. While providing significant insight,
existing mechanism-based models are generally not capable
of accurately predicting CF behavior beyond the range of
laboratory data.
Hydrogen environment embrittlement (HEE) is an important mechanism for CF crack propagation in ferritic and
martensitic steels, as well as aluminum, titanium, and
nickel-based alloys exposed to gases and electrolytes within
order of 100C of ambient temperature [1521]. This hypothesis is supported by extensive but circumstantial evidence, and is most readily accepted for high-strength alloys
in strong hydrogen-producing environments. In HEE atomic
Mechanical Variables
An important issue is the influence of an electrochemical
environment on the cyclic deformation behavior of metals
[14,3335]. As illustrated by the data in Fig. 1 for a carbonmanganese steel in high-temperature water, environment
does not typically affect the relationship between stresses
and strains derived from the maximum tensile (or compressive) points of steady-state (saturation) hysteresis loops
[36]. Such loops should relate to elastic and plastic deformation prior to substantial CF microcracking. CF data of
the sort shown in Fig. 1 are produced by either stress or
total strain controlled uniaxial fatigue experiments, identical
(1)
(2)
FIG. 1The nil effect of environment on the cyclic stressstrain response of a C-Mn steel in moist air and pressurized
water at 288C [36]. Data are represented as true stresstrue
total strain range.
2
Considering HEE, it is important to consider the primary hydrogen source when designing CF experiments and interpreting results. In addition to occluded crack tip hydrogen production,
hydrogen can diffuse over long distances from production sites at
mildly strained bulk-solution-exposed specimen surfaces to the
propagating CF crack tip. Bulk-surface hydrogen production is
important for ferrous alloys at long exposure times in acidic or
H2S-bearing solutions, and with cathodic polarization [21]. This
hydrogen source is less important for aluminum and titanium alloys in electrolytes that form passive surface films capable of blocking hydrogen uptake.
FIG. 2The deleterious effect of aerated aqueous chloride solution on the HCF life of smooth specimens of tempered martensitic AISI 4140 steel. Symbols with horizontal arrows indicate
that CF failure has not occurred after 107 load cycles [38 ].
(3)
FIG. 11The effect of environment on tensile and torsional high-cycle corrosion fatigue in the 7075/NaCl solution
system [57 ].
Electrochemical Variables
Electrode Potential
Both anodic and cathodic polarization can affect CF, with
different trends observed for crack initiation compared to
propagation, and for steels compared to either aluminum or
titanium alloys. For ferritic and martensitic steels in aqueous chloride solution, high-cycle CF occurs at electrode potentials near free corrosion for aerated solution (EC 650
mVSCE), but is often reduced in severity or eliminated by
cathodic polarization to near 1000 mVSCE [58]. This behavior is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 12 for notched and
Metallurgical Variables
Metallurgical factors can influence CF crack initiation
and growth. Prominent in this regard are sensitization of
grain boundaries in austenitic stainless steels [22,23],
locally intense slip in aluminum alloys from dislocation
interactions with shearable precipitates [67], and metalloid
TESTING TECHNIQUES
Common Elements of a Corrosion
Fatigue Experiment
An experiment to characterize the CF properties of a
metal involves cyclic straining of a precisely machined
specimen in an electrolyte. (Precorrosion effects on fatigue
are not considered.) Environment containment about the
specimen must guarantee constant solution purity and
composition. Specimen potential should be monitored, often controlled potentiostatically, and not affected by galvanic coupling to the grips or test machine. The mechanical
parameters that must be measured depend on the experiment, be it HCF, LCF, LEFM-crack propagation or notched,
and are progressively more difficult to monitor from the
Crack Detection
Total load cycles to failure are measured, but crack initiation and growth are not monitored during an HCF experiment. Information on these stages of HCF is critical, but
difficult to obtain. Methods for CF crack detection are
discussed in the subsection on Small Crack CF Methods.
(4)
remote containers and including high pressure and temperature compensation capabilities. Procedures to eliminate
galvanic couples and to maintain solution purity and composition are identical to those employed in HCF and LCF
experiments. Crack opening displacement is measured with
a remote or immersed extensometer or LVDT. The cell must
not interfere with specimen loading or displacement. For
example, in Fig. 18b, the shaded midportion is a flexible
membrane designed so that cell clamping forces do not alter specimen compliance. This is important for accurate
measurements of crack closure.
Typically, metal-bellows/gasket sealed HIGH VACUUM
chambers are utilized for environmental fatigue experiments in inert or deleterious gaseous environments [4].
Such an apparatus is outside the scope of this review.
(5)
FIG. 21CF propagation rate versus K for microstructurally small cracks in AA2024 exposed to deaerated
aqueous chloride at fixed potential. Crack growth was
monitored by in situ optical microscopy [106 ].
FIG. 22Compact tension specimen and electrode arrangement for in situ measurement of crack electrode potential, pH,
and solution composition during CF growth [108 ]. NACE
International. All rights reserved by NACE; reprinted with
permission.
nucleation and coalescence, small/short crack growth, and
long crack propagation.
Implementing the correct method for CF life prediction
and CF-resistant alloy development is often controversial, as
existing approaches (often based on smooth specimen HCF
data) are challenged by more modern approaches. A consensus is perhaps developing; an effective method couples
the local strain approach to CF crack formation and early
growth to a given detection threshold with the LEFM approach to propagation in order to calculate the summed
total component life. The recommendation is that the
Coffin-Manson approach be employed, but that the number of
cycles to form a (reasonably) resolvable crack size (perhaps
0.1 to 1 mm) be measured in place of total cycles to failure.
Equation 2 then describes the CF crack formation resistance of a given alloy-environment system, with the size of
the initiated crack defined operationally. These materialenvironment property data are coupled with Neubers
method or finite element calculations of local plastic strain
range in a component to define service initiation life [7].
The fracture mechanics approach should be employed to
characterize CF crack propagation kinetics, with emphasis
on both the microstructurally small, physically short, and
conventional long crack regimes [6,8]. The Paris relationship (Eq 3), or more complex formulations, are employed
with stress intensity similitude and an analysis of the stress
and stress intensity conditions of the component to predict
CF propagation life, integrated from the size of the crack
formed in the initiation stage [41]. A variety of desktop
computer programs have been developed for the LEFM portion of the fatigue life prediction problem [110]. If nondestructive testing so indicates, then the LCF initiation
portion of the problem can be equated to zero, and the fracture mechanics integration started at the appropriate existing flaw size.
The output of an integrated CF prediction method is plots
of total cyclic life as a function of applied stress range, or
Acknowledgments
This chapter was written based on the support of the Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-91-J-4164, with Dr. A.
John Sedriks as the Scientific Officer), the NASA Langley
Research Center (Grant NAG-1-745, with Mr. D. L. Dicus as
Grant Monitor), and the Virginia Center for Innovative
Technology (Technology Development Center for Electrochemical Science and Engineering, with Professor G. E.
Stoner as Director).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fatigue 02, Anders Blom, Ed., Engineering Materials Advisory
Services, West Midlands, UK (2002).
Gangloff, R. P., Environment Sensitive Fatigue Crack Tip Processes and Propagation in Aerospace Aluminum Alloys, in
Fatigue 02, Anders Blom, Ed., Engineering Materials Advisory
Services, West Midlands, UK, 2002, pp. 34013433.
Gasem, Z. and Gangloff, R. P., Rate-Limiting Processes in Environmental Fatigue Crack Propagation in 7000-Series Aluminum
Alloys, in Chemistry and Electrochemistry of Corrosion and
Stress Corrosion Cracking: A Symposium Honoring the Contributions of R.W. Staehle, R. H. Jones, Ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA,
2001, pp. 501521.
In addition, the emerging body of literature on the effect of precorrosion on fatigue life, particularly of aerospace alloys, is important. These include the following:
Barter, S. A., Sharp, P. K., Holden, G., and Clark, G., Initiation and
Early Growth of Fatigue Cracks in an Aerospace Aluminum Alloy, Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, Vol. 25, 2002, pp. 111125.
DuQuesnay, D. L., Underhill, P. R., and Britt, H. J., Fatigue Crack
Growth from Corrosion Damage in 7075-T65511 Aluminum Alloy Under Aircraft Loading, International Journal of Fatigue,
Vol. 25, 2003, pp. 371377.
Fawaz, F. A., Equivalent Initial Flaw Size Testing and Analysis of
Transport Aircraft Skin Splices, Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, Vol. 26, 2003, pp. 279290.
Spence, S. H., Williams, N. M., Stonham, A. J., Bache, M. R.,
Ward, A. R., Evans, W. J., Hay, D., Urbani, C., Crawford, B. R.,
Loader, C., and Clark, G., Fatigue in the Presence of Corrosion
Pitting in an Aerospace Alumunum Alloy, in Fatigue 02, Anders
Blom, Ed., Engineering Materials Advisory Services, West Midlands, UK, 2002, pp. 701708.
Sharp, P. K., Mills, T., Russo, S., Clark, G., and Liu, Q., Effect of
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Gruenberg, K. M., Craig, B. A., Hillberry, B. M., Bucci, R. J., and
Hinkle, A. J., Predicting Fatigue Life of Pre-Corroded 2024-T3
Aluminum from Breaking Load Tests, International Journal of
Fatigue, Vol. 26, 2004, pp. 615627.
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