While literature indicates that the applied loading rate (dK/dt) can affect environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) behavior, the quantification of dK/dt dependencies and mechanistic understanding of why the applied dK/dt influences EAC remain limited. In this study, a slow-rising stress intensity (K) framework was utilized to measure EAC kinetics over dK/dt ranging from 0.2 to 20 MPa√m/hr in Beta-C Ti, AA7075-T651, AA5456-H116, Monel K-500, 304L SS, Pyrowear 675, and Custom 465-H900 stainless steel immersed in 0.6 M NaCl at applied potentials known to promote modest EAC susceptibility. Results demonstrate that the crack growth rate (da/dt) exhibits two characteristics regimes of behavior with increasing dK/dt across multiple alloys. In particular, a ‘plateau’ regime where da/dt is independent of dK/dt was observed for elevated dK/dt, while a ‘linear’ regime where da/dt linearly scales with dK/dt was noted for slow dK/dt. These findings are analysied in the context of stress- and strain-controlled failure criteria and the environmentally modified Ritchie-Knott-Rice criteria for crack advance. The implications of these findings on recent testing standardization efforts for HEAC are then discussed.
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