British Corrosion Journal

ISSN: 0007-0599 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ycst19

‘Stress corrosion cracking and corrosion fatigue of

steam-turbine rotor and blade materials’

John G. Parker

To cite this article: John G. Parker (1991) ‘Stress corrosion cracking and corrosion fatigue
of steam-turbine rotor and blade materials’, British Corrosion Journal, 26:3, 170-172, DOI:
10.1179/000705991798269206

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/000705991798269206

Published online: 20 Nov 2013.

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 170 Corrosion news and views
ties of UEG. More than a dozen
authors have written a similar number
of sections, but there is no key to
who has written what. The coordin-
ating editor was J. N. Wanklyn.
The initial chapter on principles of
corrosion and cathodic protection is
rather conventional. The description
of the marine corrosion mechanisms
appears to have been based on a
rather small selection of references
available to the author, resulting in a
lack of balance. Estimated corrosion
rates and current densities for
cathodic protection as a function of
flowrate and (bulk) oxygen concen-
trations are given with three signifi-
cant digits, but the overriding effect
of time, due to polarisation and
macrofouling, is hardly mentioned
and certainly not in any quantitative
way. A small paragraph on corrosion
Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 13:32 15 May 2016
in anaerobic mud is based on a single
private communication and quotes
some quite unrealistic corrosion fig-
ures. The fact that should have been
mentioned is that steel corrodes very
slowly in sulphide containing mud
unless it is coupled to large cathodic
areas of steel in aerated water. The
important phenomena of weld seam
corrosion and other effects of steel
composition are not mentioned.
There is a very good chapter on
the effect of cathodic protection on
mechanical properties of steel, a sub-
ject which has been studied intensely
in recent years. There is, however,
still a scarcity of work done in the
. real marine environment, but it has
been shown that cathodic protection
of steel with macrofouling or of steel
in active marine mud results in a
hydrogen uptake that is 5-10 times
higher than that in sterile laboratory
sea water, and this has yet to be
taken into account.
A chapter on organic coatings in
conjunction with cathodic protection
tends to get lost in detailed refer-
ences, which makes it harder than
necessary for the reader to find the
advice he or she might be looking
for. One important piece of infor-
mation is that modern coatings on
subsea pipelines are so good that
present design rules for cathodic
protection result in gross over-
protection.
Computer modelling of cathodic
protection systems is now widely
used and has helped to produce
optimal designs. However, I wonder
what kind of reader would benefit
from the chapter that attempts to
describe this technique. Perhaps it is
an impossible task to explain the
mathematical methods, but then it
should not have been tried. In
addition, the figures chosen are not
very helpful.
The three following chapters,
Br. Corros. J., 1991, Vol. 26, No.3
which describe the practices used in
cathodic protection of offshore struc-
tures, steel, concrete, and subsea
structures, and pipelines, constitute
the most important part of the guide-
lines. They are well written, obviou·sly
by authors with considerable experi-
ence, and provide interesting and
informative reading. They will give
the 'cathodic protection non-
specialist' the required overview with
enough quantitative data to enable
the interested reader to do his or her
own calculations, while the specialist
will find confirmation of established
knowledge and beliefs, a good selec-
tion of source material, and very few
errors or omissions, usually only
when the authors were unaware of
very recently published information.
Perhaps one of these (on p. 102)
should be corrected here and now.
The 90Cu-10Ni alloy Cunifer 10
does not provide a 'highly active
galvanic couple' with carbon steel.
An area of copper-nickel is less
active as a cathode than the steel it
replaces and takes less current in·
cathodic protection. Obviously, most
people would have expected it to be
the other way round.
The chapter on concrete structures
is particularly worthy of recommen-
dation and reflects the efforts made
during the Concrete in the Oceans
programme, which also went a long
way towards providing consensus
with research centres outside the UK.
There is, however, still a need to
improve the ways of teaching the
necessary amount of electrochemistry
to civil engineers. I do not think the
Evans' diagrams presented in this
chapter will do the job well enough.
The last third of the book contains
chapters on operation; monitoring
and surveys; structural aspects; and
legislation and codes. The final chap-
ter - before the appendices - is a
unique and very valuable review of
experience gained in the North Sea.
The important conclusion is that the
simple sacrificial anode systems have
shown much better performance than
most impressed current systems,
mostly because the latter have been
more vulnerable to damage. There is,
however, hope that sufficiently robust
hybrid systems can be developed,
with important weight savings.
The appendix collects a number of
useful tables (repeated from the
chapters). There are a few printing
errors, e.g. in Tables 11 and 24, but
these are so obvious that they are
harmless. Table 25 repeats the gener-
ally accepted positive and negative
limits for the protected potential in
aerated and anaerobic sea water.
Potentials are given with respect to
both Ag/ AgCI and zinc, but it should
have been mentioned that a zinc
reference electrode is likely to fail by
passivation in hydrogen sulphide
containing environments.
The lower protective potential in
anaerobic environments is a require-
ment that is probably carried forward
from work in the early 1950s by
Farrer and Hoar and which has hardly
been questioned since. Obviously, it
is not fulfilled in the protection of
driven piles, which are impossible to
monitor, and which must receive their
cathodic protection from anodes on
the platform where the requirement
is only that potential be kept at
-800 mV(Ag/AgCI). A potential of
- 900 mV. or lower in active mud
also produces much more hydrogen
in the steel than in an aerated
environment, and this is certainly a
matter for concern.
The reviewer has himself found the
book useful as a reference source,
and its admittedly high price will
probably not be a deterrent to people
in the offshore business.
Hans Arup
Force Institutes
8r{?)ndby, Denmark
J. B. MARRIOTT (ed.): 8Stress
corrosion cracking and cor-
rosion fatigue of steam-turbine
rotor and blade materials'; 1991,
Luxembourg, Office for Official
Publications of the European
Communities8 V (Physical Sci-
ence Series) 65 pp., 162 x 229 mm,
ECU6·25+ VAT, ISBN 92 826
201748 catalogue number CD-
NA-13186-EN-C
This slim volume, comprising only 19
pages of text and 41 figures, attempts
to summarise the present state of the
art, mainly based on the results of
the international cooperative research
programme COST505, recent litera-
ture, and the authors' own experi-
ence. The topics of stress corrosion
cracking (SCC) and corrosion fatigue
(CF), which are predominant failure
modes in low pressure steam tur-
bines, are discussed under four main
headings:
• 'Stress corrosion crack initiation'
• 'Stress corrosion crack" propa-
gation'
• 'Corrosion fatigue crack initiation'
• 'Corrosion fatigue crack propa-
gation'
In addition, some comments are
made on the general topic of SCC
and CF including a fracture mech-
anics analysis of crack initiation
and considerations concerning the
mechanisms of SCC.
The materials investigated in the
COST505 programme were the rotor
alloys 26NiCrMoV 14 5 (basic-
ally a 3·5Ni-Cr-Mo-V steel) and
23CrNiMo 74 7 (2Cr-1 Ni) together

with X3CrMnNiMoN 256" 4 duplex
alloy. The first named rotor alloy is
probably the most widely used for
steam turbines, While the duplex
material has been recently developed
for steam turbine blading. The test
programme also included some
modifications to these, e.g. high
purity versions.
Following some general comments
upon the relationships between SCC
and CF there follows the section
dealing with SCC initiation, an
initiated crack being considered
established when it has a surface
breaking length of about 1 mm. This
section includes an outline of labora-
tory test methods. A discussion on
the importance of corrosion pits,
microcracks, and macrocracks in the
initiation process is developed using
results obtained on the 3·5Ni-Cr-
Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 13:32 15 May 2016
Mo-V steel for illustration.
Factors affecting the initiation
behaviour are considered to be the
inclusion characteristics, the strength
level of the steel, the applied stress,
and the chemistry of the bulk
environment. Data are included to
support this view. From these obser-
vations it is pointed out that SCC
initiation may be prevented or at least
delayed by the use of good water
chemistry and possibly the use of
superclean steels, both of which
should reduce the incidence of
pitting. The second stage, Le.
microcracking, may be minimised by
low applied stresses or the introduc-
tion of surface compressive stresses,
for example by shot peening.
The section on SCC propagation
presents quantitative crack growth
rate data for rotor steels and the
effect (or in many cases lack of
effect) of various parameters. These
include material factors, e.g. yield
strength, alloy jimpurity elements (I
would like to have seen effect of
chromium content included), stress
intensity, etc., and environmental
factors, e.g. temperature, dissolved
gases, etc.
Corrosion fatigue crack initiation
in rotor steels and blade materials is
treated separately. However, the
importance of pitting in both cases
is clearly demonstrated. In the case
of rotor steels a reduction of fatigue
strength in deaerated water at 100°C
was about 20% of the air value.
Testing in aerated water at 20°C,
which resulted in pitting corrosion,
led to a reduction of 75%. The purely
mechanical effect of pitting is shown
in another test series. The reduction
in fatigue strength of precorrode-d
specimens is compared with similar,
though uncorroded, specimens.
Homogeneous (uniform) attack, pro-
duced in an acid environment, led to
a reduction in fatigue strength level
of about 20%. When localised cor-
rosion was produced a greater
reduction of between 30 and 65%
was found, depending upon the
depth and shape of pits. One assumes
that the results were normalised to
similar cross-sectional areas.
Corrosion fatigue, which is the
dominant cause of failure of low
pressure turbine blades, gave rise to
the development of duplex alloy
X3CrMnNiMoN 2564. This was
found to exhibit a much higher pitting
resistance in electrochemical tests
and the CF properties were signifi-
cantly improved compared with the
conventional 12%Cr blade alloy even
when pitting occurred in both.
With regard to crack growth in CF
(and mechanical fatigue), three sche-
matic figures are presented to illus-
trate the effects of stress intensity,
environment, and stress corrosion on
the rate of crack extension. Another
figure presents quantitative data
relating fatigue crack growth rate to
cyclic stress intensity range for
3·5Ni-Cr-Mo-V. The effects of R
ratio and environment are evident.
A fracture mechanics analysis of
crack initiation is considered and the
discussion leads to the conclusion
that stress corrosion and CF cracks
can develop from small corrosion pits
('" 100 J.!mdeep). Such pits can grow
in very short times when compared
to the expected lifetime of a steam
turbine and thus a fracture mechanics
approach is essential once cracks
have formed.
An attempt is made, based upon
the COST505 work, to understand
the chemical mechanisms of SCC.
The importance of localised cor-
rosion, with the formation of pits,
has been established. Evidence is
quoted to support the view that
stagnant conditions are a prerequisite
for pitting to develop in high purity
water or steam. Such conditions are
conducive to the development of
local chemical cells due to the action
of, for example, surface breaking
non-metallic inclusions or hydrolysis
reactions. The greater aggressivity of
condensing steam, compared with
the bulk environment, is explained
by the fact that condensate films can
be considered-to be stagnant.
The importance of pit shape is
mentioned in respect of stress con-
centration effects. The role of tensile
stresses and repassivation character-
istics in producing cracklike, rather
than the normal hemispherical, pits
is highlighted. Crack initiation is
considered to be due to an anodic
mechanism.
The authors state that although
SCC propagation in high strength
materials is often explained by a
hydrogen mechanism, the model of
Corrosion news and views 171
pure hydrogen induced cracking
seems not to be applicable. They cite
the inhibition of SCC propagation by
cathodic polarisation as evidence for
this view. I suspect that it is the
definition of 'high strength' which
needs to be clarified. This section
concludes with some suggested
explanations concerning the apparent
differences between the laboratory
and service experience. Also included
are actions which may be taken on
site to reduce the risk of local cor-
rosion; the majority of these I would
expect to be already practised.
There are some inconsistencies in
the book. In section 3, for example,
CF is defined as 'the initiation and
growth of cracks under the simul-
taneous effects of an aggressive
environment and cyclic stresses'
which, in essence, conforms to the
generally held view (see ISO 8044).
However, in the section dealing with
CF crack initiation in low pressure
rotor steels, this definition is enlarged
to include 'the reduction in fatigue
strength due to surface damage after
corrosion attack'. I do not believe
this will find much support.
The title and the abstract of the
book suggest that the scope includes
a description of the major influential
parameters on SCC and CF behaviour
of both steam turbine rotor and blade
materials in service related environ-
ments. In fact almost no mention of
blade material is made in the stress
corrosion section although in service
failures of blades due to SCC has
occurred, albeit very much less often
than by CF.
The publication includes 41 fig-
ures, 34 of which contain quantitative
data that will be of value to those
involved in the design, manufacture,
and operation of low pressure steam
turbines. However, I would recom-
mend to anyone applying the data
to do so with caution. The SCC
growth rates, for example, are
especially sensitive to alloy strength
level and operating temperature.
Indeed, I would suggest that the
original references be obtained to
establish the precise experimental
details. There are 45 references
quoted in all, most of the quantitative
data presented arising from the 13
individual COST505 programme
reports. These data are quite recent
as the reports were issued only in
1989.
In addition to those involved in
the-steam turbine field, I believe that
this book will also be of value to
anyone having an interest in the
general topic of environmentally
assisted failure. Much of the infor-
mation on local chemistry, develop-
ment of pits, and cracks has wider
relevance than the steam turbine
Br. Corros. J., 1991, Vol. 26, No.3
 172 Corrosion news and views

field. In fact, at the unbelievable price can thoroughly recommend this book comprehensive, results is quite
of only about £4 (if my ECU to for the reasons stated. The fact that coincidental!
sterling conversion is sound), it a great deal of the stress corrosion John G. Parker
litera lIy is a stea I. data presented supports my own very National Power
In spite of my minor quibbles, I much earlier, though very much less Swindon

Preliminary Announcement

MATERIALS SELECTION BY DESIGN

28 November 1991 The Institute of Metals
Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 13:32 15 May 2016

Sponsored and organised by the Alloy Design and Behaviour Group of the Materials Science
Division and the Materials Engineering Committee of the Materials Engineering Division of
The Institute of Metals and cosponsored by The Institute of Ceramics and
The Plastics and Rubber Institute

The selection of the most appropriate material and processing route is of crucial importance
for the success of a product. This applies not only to performance dominated applications
where optimum material properties are required, but also to products destined for the
consumer market where economic considerations are of paramount importance. Although
traditional solutions can be obtained from reference texts and standards, this approach stifles
innovation because it cannot take account of the potential advantages offered by new
materials and manufacturing techniques. The number of materials available to the designer
has increased rapidly in recent years but this has been accompanied by both a greater
availability of materials information through computer databases and major changes in the
philosophy of materials selection with empiricism being replaced by a more analytical
approach.

During the meeting speakers from industry, consulting organisations, and universities will
discuss materials selection in product innovation and design and review the selection
procedures and methodologies that are applicable to a variety of engineering problems.
Specific examples are drawn from the automotive industry to illustrate the challenge for
material and process selection in both the volume car market and on the race track. However,
the principles involved are equally applicable to other branches of manufacturing industry.
Particular attention is paid to the present state of computer based information systems and
it is intended that a number of such systems will be available for demonstration during the
course of the meeting.

The meeting aims to attract materials specialists and engineers from industrial and academic
organisations concerned with structural materials. If you wish to obtain further information
about the meeting please contact as soon as possible:
Ms H. Grainger
Conference Department (C147)
The Institute of Metals
1 Carlton. House Terrace
London SW1Y SOB
Tel: 071-839 4071 (direct line 071-976 1339); Fax: 071-839 3576; Telex: 8814813

Dr. Corros. J., 1991, Vol. 26, NO.3