Factors Influencing Stress Corrosion Cracking of Carbon Steel in Diluted Bicarbonate Environments

Studies were conducted on the effect of cold work on stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of API X52 steel. For comparison, measurements were made on specimens with no notch and that were not cold-worked. The time to failure of cold-worked specimens was always shorter than that of the as-received specimens. Hydrogen content in the cold-worked steel was always higher than in the steel that was not cold-worked at the corrosion and cathodic potentials. An increase in pH from pH 8 to 12 in the absence of cathodic polarization led to improved SCC resistance, with nearly complete immunity at pH 12. Aeration of the solution at pH 8 and 10 produced higher susceptibility to SCC. Cathodic polarization caused increased susceptibility to SCC in deaerated and aerated solutions.