Correlations of electrochemical noise, acoustic emission and complementary monitoring techniques during intergranular stress-corrosion cracking of austenitic stainless steel

Specimens of sensitized type AISI 304 stainless steel were subjected to constant load and exposed to an aqueous sodium thiosulphate solution. Intergranular stress-corrosion cracking was monitored simultaneously for electrochemical noise, acoustic emission, and specimen elongation. A section of the gauge length was monitored optically with subsequent analysis by digital image correlation. Correlations between the results were observed and analysed. Electrochemical noise and elongation are associated with crack propagation from the early stages, whereas acoustic emission is associated with the final stages of fracture. Digital image correlation analysis is sensitive to crack development, and is used to measure crack length and crack openings.