Published Paper Details:

Austenitic stainless steel is commonly used in refinery and chemical processing industry due to its excellent mechanical properties, heat resistance, weldability and corrosion resistance at various elevated temperature. Apparently, all 300 series of austenitic stainless steels are highly susceptible to Chloride induced Stress Corrosion Cracking (CI-SCC) when dealing with corrosive environment (hydrolysis of calcium, magnesium and chlorides salts) and tensile stress (applied or residual stress). In this project, the impact of sensitization on CI-SCC is examined using austenitic stainless-steel grade 304L (SS 304L). The specimens are shaped into U-bend as per ASTM G30 and exposed for long-term immersion test. U-bend samples are heat sensitized at 600oC for 2 hours followed by air cooling. Samples are immersed in 0.1 wt%, 1.0 wt% and 3.0 wt% NaCl into the water bath at temperature of 28oC (ambient condition) and 90oC for 28 days. The specimens were monitored once in a week under visual examination of crack on the surface. Microscopic study was carried out to identify the CI-SCC and morphology of SS304L material.