The use of slow strain rate technique for studying stress corrosion cracking inhibition

The efficiency of some organic additives for SCC inhibition of AISI 304 stainless steel in 1 M HCl solution can be demonstrated by the Slow Strain Rate (SSR) technique. 1 M HCl solution is the most aggressive solution for the SCC of AISI 304 stainless steel. The most suitable strain rate for studying SCC by the SSR method has been found to be 1 × 10 −6 s −1 . Some organic additives have been tested as SCC inhibitors under the above conditions. Phenylthiourea (PTU), benzimidazole-2-thiol (BIT) and benzothiazole-2-thiol (BTT) have been found to inhibit SCC in stainless steel, thus confirming previous results obtained with a different technique. The inhibitive action of these substances can be attributed to their inhibiting effect on the anodic reaction of metal dissolution.