Fatigue processes in metals—role of aqueous environments

The response of a wide range of metals under the action of an applied stress and in environments spanning an entire range of aggressiveness, from the very inert to aggressive has been the subject of several investigations. Most of these studies have focused on mechanisms governing fatigue crack propagation and little attention has been paid to the effect of environment on fatigue crack initiation. A comprehensive understanding of the influence of aqueous environments has been hampered by the complexity of the problem, the difficulties in understanding the various micromechanisms governing crack initiation and crack propagation and by an absence of a truly interdisciplinary attack of the problem. In this paper, several of the fatigue crack initiation models are presented and the micromechanisms governing fatigue crack initiation are examined. The various processes that control the phenomenon of cracking including aqueous environment enhanced fatigue crack growth are also highlighted in this review.