Stress Corrosion Cracking and Prevention of Austenitic Stainless Steel Pressure Pipings

In the chemical industry field, the common material of pressure pipings for transporting corrosive medium is austenitic stainless steel, and stress corrosion cracking is the main failure mode for austenitic stainless steel. The stress corrosion cracking mechanism, main influence factors and preventive measures of austenitic stainless steel pressure pipings were discussed and analyzed. The results show that the stress corrosion cracking mechanism of austenitic stainless steel pressure pipings can be divided into hydrogen induced stress corrosion cracking and ‘slipping-dissolving-fracture’ model. The corrosion rate was mainly affected by factors such as tensile stress, corrosivity of the transmission medium, operating temperature, hydrogen element, transmission medium washouting to the piping wall and so on. Measures such as choosing reasonable materials and electrode, optimizing welding process, avoiding forming stress concentration, preventing corrosion solution concentration, changing transmission medium compositions, applying cathodic protection and so on, can be adopted to reduce the stress corrosion cracking of austenitic stainless steel pressure pipings.