STRESS-CORROSION CRACKING OF PURE COPPER AND PURE SILVER IN GASEOUS ENVIRONMENTS

The Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) susceptibility of pure copper and pure silver, in gaseous environments contaminated by halide compounds, was studied. As predicted by the surface mobility-SCC mechanism, SCC was found in those environments where high surface mobility has been reported. SCC of pure copper was found in argon contaminated with CuCl, when the metal was slowly strained at 200-degrees-C. Silver showed a similar behaviour, when the contaminants were either AgI or iodine vapour.