Double cantilever beam compliance and stress corrosion cracking investigation of a high strength low alloy steel

A detailed examination of the stress corrosion propensity of a high strength low alloy steel was conducted. The stress corrosion susceptibility was determined using double cantilever beam fracture mechanics specimens. Hydrogen and stress corrosion effects on material properties and fracture morphology were identified. The separation of the two effects and related mechanisms was made possible through the use of preconditioning the specimens in the test solution. The double cantilever beam specimen was found to have a tendency for the crack to deviate from the initial horizontal to the vertical plane in stress corrosion and compliance testing. Finite element analysis indicated this phenomenon is an inherent characteristic of the specimen geometry. Experimental compliance testing was also conducted to determine and verify the double cantilever beam compliance function. The compliance function was accurately determined and was found to give conservative values of stress intensity of up to 10% less than historical functions.