Corrosion fatigue crack propagation rate characteristics for weldable ship and offshore steels with regard to the influence of loading frequency and saltwater temperature

After Vosikovsky (1975), the corrosion fatigue crack growth rate (CFCGR) characteristics have been divided into three regions. The region-III rates are very close to mechanical fatigue crack growth rates. CFCGR formulae, including the long-crack length effect (in region I only), the loading frequency effect (in region II only), and the saltwater temperature effect, have been proposed. It has been assumed that CFCGR is proportional to f –k, where f is the loading frequency and k is a constant. The averaged k-value for all steels of yield stress (YS) below 500 MPa, usually with ferrite-pearlite microstructures, is higher than that for YS > 500 MPa, usually with quenched and tempered microstructures. The temperature effect does not appear in region I below room temperature. In the remaining cases, that is, in region I for elevated temperatures and in region II for both low and elevated temperatures, the CFCGR increases with increasing temperature. Under a potential of –0.8 V, a long-crack-length effect, qualitatively similar to analogous effect for free corrosion conditions, appears.