Effect of Cold Working on the Driving Force of Environmentally Assisted Cracking

To obtain the effect of cold working on a driving force of environmentally assisted cracking (EAC), the mechanical properties of 316L stainless steel (316L SS) with different degrees of cold working and hardening rules at the crack tip of EAC under a sudden change of load were obtained by combining experiment and finite element simulation. The creep rate at the crack tip is used to characterize the driving force of EAC, and the creep rate is used to replace the strain rate at the crack tip in the Ford–Andresen model, which more effectively reflects the effect of cold working on a driving force of crack growth rate. Results show that the yield strength of 316L SS will increase the driving force of crack growth, whereas the hardening exponent will reduce the driving force. Both cold working and hardening at the crack tip can increase the driving force of crack growth and intensify crack growth. However, a sudden change of load can also produce residual compressive stress at the crack tip, which can inhibit crack growth.