Stress corrosion cracking of magnesium alloys: A review

Magnesium (Mg) alloys have been widely used in automobile, aviation, computer, and other fields due to their lightweight, high specific strength and stiffness, low pollution, and good electromagnetic shielding performance. However, the chemical stability of Mg alloys is poor, especially in the corrosive medium environment with high stress corrosion sensitivity, which causes sudden damage to structural components and restricts their application field. In recent years, owing to the increasing failure rate of engineering structures caused by stress corrosion of Mg alloys, it has become necessary to understand and pay more attention to the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior of Mg alloys. In this paper, the SCC mechanisms and test methods of Mg alloys have been summarized. The recent research progress on SCC of Mg alloys has been reviewed from the aspects of alloying, preparation process, surface modification, corrosive medium, and strain rate. More importantly, future research trends in the field of SCC of Mg alloys have also been proposed.