Fatigue, Corrosion-Fatigue and SCC of AISI 304 Stainless Steel Fully-Threaded Stud Bolts

This study reports the behavior of a fully-threaded stud bolt made of AISI 304 stainless steel under the following conditions: fatigue, corrosion-fatigue, and stress corrosion cracking (SCC). The fatigue tests at ambient temperature were conducted at frequencies of 2 and 30 Hz, considering a endurance fatigue limit of 2×10⁶ cycles. In situ corrosion-fatigue tests were performed in an aqueous solution of 35 g/L NaCl at 2 Hz, and finally, the in situ stress corrosion cracking tests lasted for 278 hours under constant stress. The results showed that higher mean stress and frequency reduce the strength of this component. In the tests conducted in the chloride solution, the synergistic effect of fatigue and the environment caused a reduction in the component's strength compared to the air tests. In terms of aggressiveness, the loading conditions can be classified as corrosion-fatigue > fatigue > SCC, as no stress corrosion cracking failures were observed in this component under the tested conditions.