A Quantitative Concept of the Permeability to Hydrogen of Passivating Layers on a Metal at the Apex of the Crack in the Corrosion-induced Cracking of Constructional Materials

A general theoretical and methodological approach to the determination of the role of the local anodic dissolution and hydrogen-induced embrittlement in the corrosion-induced cracking of various constructional materials is examined. The possibility of the quantitative estimation of the role of the hydrogen-induced embrittlement in the corrosion-induced cracking of high-strength steels and titanium, aluminium, magnesium, and zirconium alloys is demonstrated. A quantitative concept of the permeability of hydrogen of passivating layers on a metal at the apex of a crack, which has made it possible to determine quantitatively for the first time the relation between the critical concentration of hydrogen and the stress intensity coefficient in the hydrogen-induced embrittlement of steels and titanium and aluminium alloys, has been developed on the basis of several postulates. Two new methods for the investigation of the adsorption of hydrogen and anions at the apex of the crack in corrosion-induced cracking, based on this concept, are proposed.
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