Effects of chloride and oxygen on stress corrosion cracking of cold worked 316/316L austenitic stainless steel in high temperature water

•316L has higher stress corrosion crack growth rate at 325 °C than 288 °C.•Oxygen and Cl- can accelerate the crack growth rate of cold worked material in high temperature water.•The deformation level affects the morphology of the SCC fracture surface. Cracks mainly propagate along random high angle grain boundaries in cold worked 316L.

Cold work of materials, dissolved oxygen and chloride in water are crucial factors that accelerate the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) crack growth rate of stainless steel in high temperature water. Cold worked austenitic stainless steel type 316 and 316L were studied in order to obtain their effects on SCC crack growth rates in 288 and 325 °C water. Similar SCC behavior were identified for 316 and 316L. Cold working induced comparatively high crack growth rate up to 10−8 mm/s even in hydrogenated water, and the collaboration of dissolved oxygen and chloride in water accelerated the SCC crack growth rates much more significantly.