Corrosion Fatigue

a reduction of the endurance limit of a metal or alloy resulting from the simultaneous action of cyclical alternating stresses and a corrosive medium. Fracture of the metal occurs because of the appearance of a network of trans-crystalline or intercrystalline microscopic fissures, which become a large corrosion fatigue fissure. The maximum mechanical stress at which the metal does not fracture after the simultaneous action of an established number of alternating stress cycles and given corrosion conditions is called the corrosion fatigue limit.