Standardization of rising load/rising displacement SCC testing

Two new draft standards for fracture mechanics based stress corrosion cracking (SCC) tests have recently been issued by ASTM and ISO committees. Both concern the determination of the threshold stress intensity factor, K-ISCC, and the crack growth velocity, da/dt = f(K-l) from rising load or rising displacement tests. One of these drafts, prepared by ASTM Committee G-l on Corrosion of Metals, is an extension of an existing ASTM standard on slow strain rate testing. The second one was elaborated by ISO TC 156 and is based on a procedure proposed by the European Structural Integrity Society, ESIS. This procedure has been validated in an interlaboratory test program. Results of this research project and issues of both drafts are discussed in the paper.