Dislocation-promoted dissolution

The enhancement of creep by anodic dissolution is well known, for copper in acetic acid153 and austenitic stainless steels and nickel-based alloys in pressurized water reactor (PWR) environments. The initial vacancy injection from the surface is followed by vacancy attraction to the inside dislocations, which promotes easier glide, climb, and crossing of microstructural barriers. This mechanism illustrates the corrosion-enhanced plasticity approach.95... 

When the applied stress causes some plastic strain and dislocation creep, the periodical emergence of slip steps promotes local excess dissolution. Crack advance is attributed to this metal removal, with no mechanical rupture events even at a microscopic level. Thus the crack propagation rate do/dr may be estimated by calculating the metal loss by dissolution at the crack tip. In general, two different situations are considered ... 

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