Pioneering research on the role of strain burst in the early-stage stress corrosion crack propagation

This work pioneered the study on the effect of cyclic -loading -induced strain burst on Stage -1b stress corrosion crack (SCC) growth under alternating static and cyclic loading. Results show that Stage -1b growth occurred by microcrack initiation and its linking to the main crack's tip. Increasing static hold duration caused crack growth rate per cycle to increase after an incubation period. This was because the occurrence of strain burst induced a high strain rate, leading to film rupture, and thus microcrack initiation. The effects of different stress levels and durations of static hold, and their interactions with cyclic loading, on crack growth were systematically studied.