Energy principle of corrosion environment accelerating crack propagation during anodic dissolution corrosion fatigue

A general method to predict the crack propagation of anodic dissolution corrosion fatigue is developed in this paper. Crack propagation of corrosion fatigue is presented as the result of the synergistic interactions of mechanical and environmental factors, and corrosive environment accelerates crack propagation mainly in term of anodic dissolution. By studying the variation of mechanical energy and electrochemical energy of anodic dissolution during the crack propagation process, an explicit expression of crack propagation rate is derived by the conservation of energy. The comparisons with experimental data demonstrate the validity of the proposed model. Moreover, the applicable upper-limit crack length for steady crack propagation is determined and the crack propagation life is evaluated.