Delayed cracking of low‐nickel austenitic stainless steel studied with constant load tensile testing

Delayed cracking in unstable low‐Ni austenitic stainless steel 204Cu was studied by constant load tensile testing. The developed testing arrangement enabled a systematical examination on the effect of applied stress, strain‐induced α′‐martensite and internal hydrogen content on time to fracture. Volume fraction of strain‐induced α′‐martensite was shown to affect cracking kinetics, except at a very high stress level. Hydrogen content had a marked...