Monitoring of chloride stress corrosion cracking of austenitic stainless steel: identification of the phases of the corrosion process and use of a modified accelerated test

• A novel accelerated test for chloride stress corrosion cracking designed for austenitic stainless steel is presented.
• Current density and applied load were monitored during corrosion tests.
• Novel chloride stress corrosion cracking test was validated by acoustic emission.
• The novel test was validated by the recording of various stages of corrosion as observed in conventional accelerated chloride stress corrosion cracking.
• The stress evolution during the test was linked to the current density evolution.

A novel chloride stress corrosion cracking CSCC test was carried out on AISI 304L: the imposition of an anodic potential to shorten the test duration time. A stress is applied to promote cracks. Acoustic emission (AE) methods were used to characterize and monitor the phenomena. The degradation of the material was characterized by coupling of acoustic emission and electrochemical measurements. The evolution of current density and applied load was monitored to make links between the AE results and the various stages of CSCC. The fracture faces and the corrosion were observed by optical microscopy and SEM.