Effect of solution pH on the electrochemical polarization and stress corrosion cracking of Alloy 690 in 5 M NaCl at room temperature

The effect of solution pH on the electrochemical polarization and stress corrosion cracking behaviors of the nickel-based Alloy 690 were investigated in this paper. An experimental, potential-pH diagram was constructed for Alloy 690 in a concentrated (5 M) sodium chloride (NaCl) solution at room temperature (∼25 °C), using a cyclic polarization method. The domains of immunity, general corrosion, passivation, and pitting in 5 M NaCl solutions were defined. At pH >4, the passive region subdivided into areas of perfect passivation, imperfect passivation, and pitting. After anodic polarization, the surface of each specimen was carefully examined metallographically. Pitting corrosion was observed over the entire pH range investigated (0.3–8.52) but general corrosion predominated at lower pH values (<3). On the other hand, the mechanical properties, such as ultimate tensile strength (UTS), fracture strain (FS) and the reduction in area (RA) measured by the slow strain rate test (SSRT), decreased significantly at pH <3. The SSRT results are consistent with fractography and side-view observations of the tested specimens by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).