Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of aluminium alloys

The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behaviour of aluminium alloys has been studied for the past five decades and is still a research area of high interest due to the demand for higher strength aluminium alloys for fuel saving. This chapter brings out the general understanding of the SCC mechanism(s) and the critical metallurgical issues affecting the SCC behaviour of aluminium alloys. The developments made so far with regard to alloying and heat treatment of aluminium alloys for high SCC resistance are discussed. An overview of the available literature on the SCC of aluminium alloy weldments and aluminium alloy metal matrix composites are also presented.