TWI Launches Joint Industry Project to Investigate Chloride Stress Corrosion Cracking - News Item

TWI has launched a new joint Industry Project to investigate the detection of chloride stress corrosion cracking (SCC).

SCC has been implicated in recent plant failures and there have been calls to develop methods to case the rapid detection of this phenomenon.

Under combined conditions of stress, environment and temperatures of up to 150°C, failures may be catastrophically rapid and there is a need for detection to be carried out at these temperatures to avoid expensive plant shutdowns.

The project will involve a range of NDE methods that will be assessed for their ability to detect SCC on as-welded surfaces at a range of temperatures. Proposed methods include acoustic emission, eddy currents, AC17M, dye penetrant, ultrasonics, thermography and shearography.

Firstly inspection of parent plate at low temperatures will be worked on, followed by welds at low temperatures, welds at high temperatures and finally a monitored pipe test. Duplex 316 stainless steel pipe will be tested with both internally and externally, and the work is expected to be relevant to a number of diverse industries.

A number of companies have so far expressed an intention to join the project.

Posted March 2004