DETERMINATION OF SUSCEPTIBILITY TO ENVIRONMENTALLY-ASSISTED CRACKING OF SMALL AND MICROSTRUCTURALLY VARIED REGIONS WHILE MAINTAINING FRACTURE MECHANICS VALIDITY

拟议的工作旨在开发一种改进的工具，以便为澳大利亚主要行业(即海洋、聚合物/化学加工、航空、氧化铝选矿和纸浆与造纸)的关键设备和基础设施维护提供更准确的设计数据和改进材料选择标准，因为在这些行业中，环境辅助破裂是一个严重问题。成功验证新的测试方法(即螺旋缺口扭转试验(SNTT))，以评估难以或不可能通过常规测试充分表征的实际感兴趣材料的应力腐蚀破裂(SCC)敏感性，既是一项基础性研究挑战，也是一项具有工业吸引力的成果。

The proposed work seeks to develop an improved tool for more accurate design data and improved materials selection criteria for critical equipment and infrastructure maintenance in major Australian industries, where environmentally-assisted cracking is a serious concern (viz., marine, polymer/chemical processing, aeronautical, alumina mineral processing and pulp-and-paper). A successful validation of the novel testing approach (namely, Spiral Notch Torsion Test (SNTT)) for evaluating the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) susceptibility of materials of practical interest that are difficult or impossible to adequately characterize by conventional tests, is as much a fundamental research challenge as its accomplishment will be industrially attractive.