Stress Corrosion cracking in Austenitic Stainless Steel is a well-documented phenomenon. However, I would like to know which environment is more detrimental a Cl, F or S environment. Is there a comparative study wherein one has shown this.
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this might be helpful.
Dear Aditya Ravindra Gokhale ;
The stress corrosion depends on the type of stainless steel and its composition in addition to the corrosive environmental media concentration. Fluoride SCC is relevant for SCC under the insulation of stainless steel, and standards and regulations developed to mitigate this problem consider this ion as aggressive as chloride. more details in the following references;
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Dear Dr. Aditya Ravindra Gokhale ,
Stainless steel undergoes stress-corrosion cracking in chlorides and caustics. They do not crack in ammonia, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, acetic acid, and pure water.
The most common environmental exposure condition responsible for SCC of stainless steels is the presence of chlorides. The relative resistance to chloride SCC is dependant on the stainless steel family. The austenitic family of stainless steels is the most susceptible. The resistance of austenitic stainless steels to SCC is related to the nickel content of the steel.
The most susceptible austenitic grades have nickel contents in the range of 8 to 10 wt%. Therefore, standard grades such as 304/304L and 316/316L are very susceptible to this mode of attack. Austenitic grades with relatively high nickel and molybdenum contents such as alloy 20, 904L, and the 6% molybdenum super austenitic grades have substantially better chloride SCC resistance.
The ferritic family of stainless steels, which includes grades such as type 430 and 444 is very resistant to chloride SCC. The duplex stainless steel with their dual austenite/ferrite microstructures has a resistance that is in between that of the austenite and ferrite grades..
For more details, please see the sources:
-Corrosion Engineering Questions and Answers – Eight Forms – Stress Corrosion by SANFOUNDRY
Available at: https://www.sanfoundry.com/corrosion-engineering-questions-answers-eight-forms-stress-corrosion/
and
- Chloride Stress Corrosion Cracking by SSINA
Available at: https://www.ssina.com/education/corrosion/chloride-stress-corrosion-cracking/
My best regards, Pierluigi Traverso.
Austenitic Stainless Steel is widely used in various power plant and nuclear applications under the exposure of various molten salt environments because of excellent corrosion resistance (Because of Cr contents) and mechanical strength. However, many localized corrosion failure took place in nuclear reactor and stress corrosion cracking occurred.
So, As per my knowledge Stress corrosion cracking in Austenitic Stainless Steel is more susceptible to chlorides. But, apart from that, SCC depends on various factors such as composition, temperature, flow rate etc.
for more details please follow.
https://www.kns.org/files/pre_paper/43/20S-329-%EC%9D%B4%EB%8F%99%EC%A4%80.pdf