Technical Note: Rapid Identification of Conditions Causing Intergranular Corrosion or Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking in Sensitized Alloy 600

In 1973, Seys and van Haute introduced a technique for measuring pitting potentials. They called this technique the Static Potential Band Method. A metal wire was mounted in a corrosion cell with counter and reference electrodes, and an electrical connection made to one end. A potential was applied with a potentiostat. At the same time, a constant current was passed through the wire to create a potential gradient in the metal phase; the result was the creation of a gradient in the electrode potential along the wire. This technique has many applications in corrosion studies. In this work, it has been applied to the intergranular corrosion (IGC) and intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) of sensitized Alloy 600 in a sulfur-containing environment.