Abstract:Dezincification layer formed during corrosion or stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of brass in an ammonia solution could induce an additive stress. The effect of hydrogen on the dezincification layer-induced stress and the susceptibility to SCC were studied. The dezincification layer-induced stress was measured using the deflection method and the flowing stress differential method, respectively. The latter measures the difference between the flowing stress of a specimen before unloading and the yield stress of the same specimen after unloading and forming a dezincification layer. The susceptibility to SCC was measured using slow strain rate test. Results show that both the dezincification layer-induced stress and the susceptibility to SCC increase with increasing hydrogen concentration in a specimen. This implies that hydrogen-enhanced dezincification layer-induced stress is consistence with the hydrogen-increased susceptibility to SCC of brass in the ammonia solution.

Key words:  hydrogen; dezincification layer-induced stress; stress corrosion cracking; brass