Electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation tests

M.K. Ahn, H.S. Kwon, J.H. Lee, Predicting susceptibility of AUoy 600 to intergranular stress corrosion cracking using a modified electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation test. Corrosion 51 (1995) 441-449. 

The electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (EPR) test was proposed by Cihal etal. and developed by Novak and others as a fast, quantitative and non-destructive technique for establishing the degree of sensitisation of austenitic stainless steels. 

Kearns, J. R., draft of new Standard Test Methods for Single and Double Electrochemical Potentiokinetic Reactivation (EPR) for Detecting Sensitization of AISI Type 304 and 304L Stainless Steels, ASTM Subcommittee G01.08, September 1992. 

As mentioned before, austenitic stainless steels are susceptible to IGC due to sensitization caused by exposure to high temperatures (450-850 C). The IGC of austenitic stainless steel can also be characterized by normalized classical tests ASTM G28, ASTM A262-86, SEP 1877, AFNOR A05-159 and AFNOR A05-160, currently known as the Strauss, Huey and Streicher tests [54-57]. These methods however are destructive, difficult to perform on site and require sampling that can be harmful to the integrity of materials during service. For this reason, the electrochemical, non-destructive tests commonly known as EPR (electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation) and DL-EPR (double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation) were developed to measure the sensitivity of austenitic stainless steels to IGC [58-66]. However, EPR and DL-EPR are based on measurements of characteristic potentials and currents of passive/active zones on potentiody-namic curves in an aqueous solution (linear voltammetry curve from oxygen to hydrogen evolution in the... 

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