Mechanical factors in primary water stress corrosion cracking of cold-worked stainless steel

•PWSCC of cold-worked austenitic stainless steel was studied.•Finite element analysis was performed on a compact tension specimen.•Mechanical fields near a crack tip were evaluated using FEA.•The dependence of mechanical factors on KI and yield stress was investigated.•The crack tip normal stress was identified as a main factor controlling PWSCC.

Finite element analysis was performed on a compact tension specimen to determine the stress and strain distributions near a crack tip. Based on the results, the crack tip stain rates by crack advance and creep rates near crack tip were estimated. By comparing the dependence of the mechanical factors on the stress intensity factor and yield stress with that of the SCC crack growth rates, it was tried to identify the main mechanical factor for the primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) of cold-worked austenitic stainless steels. The analysis results showed that the crack tip normal stress could be the main mechanical factor controlling the PWSCC, suggesting that the internal oxidation mechanism might be the most probable PWSCC mechanism of cold-worked austenitic stainless steels.