STRESS-CORROSION CRACKING OF AG-20AU IN HCLO4, AGCLO4, AND KCL SOLUTIONS BY SURFACE MOBILITY

Slow, intermediate, and ultrafast strain-rate experiments were performed on Ag-20Au (atomic percent) wire samples in 1 M HClO4, AgClO4, and KCl solutions. Intergranular stress corrosion cracking was found in all of the solutions tested. In the ultrafast strain-rate experiments, 9.6 s-1, in HClO4 and in AgClO4 Solutions, the size of the cracks proved to be a function of the electric charge circulated before straining. AgClO4 was also found to specifically induce stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in the Ag-20Au alloy. The surface mobility SCC mechanism was concluded to be the only one that accounted for all of the experimental observations made in the present work.