Comparative study of stress corrosion cracking susceptibility of Fe18Cr10Mn- and Fe18Cr10Mn1Ni-based high nitrogen stainless steels

• The SCC susceptibility of high nitrogen stainless steels was investigated.
• The SCC susceptibility decreased with N and/or Ni addition.
• The SCC susceptibility was related to the electrochemical behavior of specimens.

The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior of Fe18Cr10Mn1Ni(0.3–0.8)N alloys was investigated in aqueous NaCl environment by using slow strain rate test method, and the results were compared to those of Ni-free counterparts. The addition of N tended to improve the SCC resistance of Fe18Cr10Mn- and Fe18Cr10Mn1Ni-based alloys. The alloying Ni magnified the beneficial effect of N on the SCC susceptibility and, eventually, the Fe18Cr10Mn0.8N alloy was immune to SCC in 2 M NaCl solution at 50 °C. The SCC behavior of the present alloys was found to be closely related to the repassivation tendency and the resistance to pitting corrosion.