Corrosion Fatigue Cracking of Low Alloy Steel in High Temperature Water

Fatigue crack growth test or low alloy steel was performed in high temperature water. Test parameters were dissolved oxygen content. loading frequency and R-ratio ($P_{min}/P_{max}$). Since the sulfur content or the steel was low, there were no environmentally assisted cracks (EAC) in low dissolved oxygen(DO) water. At high DO, the crack growth rate at R = 0.5 tests was much increased due to environmental effects and the crack growth rate depended on loading frequency and maximized at a critical frequency. On the other hand, R = 0.7 test results showed an anomalous decrease of the crack growth rate as much different behavior from the R = 0.5. The main reason of the decrease may be related to the crack tip closure effect. All the data could be qualitatively understood by effects of oxide rupture and anion activity at crack tip.