With regard to medium-strength steels, a very extensive study (Ref 126) was conducted on a

molybdenum-modified 4130
steel to determine the effect of molybdenum additions on resistance to H2S cracking. Here, 12 heats of
steel with varying
molybdenum contents were tempered to a total of 56 conditions. The resulting KIscc values in an
aqueous 0.5% acetic acid
solution saturated with H2S are shown in Fig. 75. In this study the yield strength level was held
constant at 760 MPa (110
ksi). It was observed that molybdenum additions of about 0.75% maximized resistance to cracking.
Smooth-bar bend tests
on the same heats and in the same solution indicated that 0.9% Mo maximized threshold stresses.
Many possible
suggestions for this improvement were offered, including the control of tramp elements by
segregation of phosphorus,
arsenic, antimony, and tin to carbide interfaces instead of to prior-austenite grain boundaries.
Because strength is the dominant factor in steel selection for SCC resistance, the effects of chemistry
and alloying can be
masked by their effect on strength or hardness. It is also difficult to generalize on the effects of
alloying additions on
sustained-load cracking because of the vast number of other variables. Nevertheless, a few cases for
specific
environments have been isolated (Ref 123, 124).
For HSLA steels (Ref 125) in aqueous environments, manganese may lower resistance by producing
either untempered
martensite or twinned martensite. Nickel may also produce undesirable effects if it causes an increase
in retained austenite
that leads to formation of untempered martensite after tempering. If no untempered martensite is
present, nickel is
considered to produce no significant effects on sustained-load cracking. Molybdenum additions on the
order of 0.5%
enhance resistance. For other elemental additions, either studies have not been made or results have
been controversial.
Effects of impurity elements are discussed at the end of this section.
For 18-Ni maraging steels, an extensive study (Ref 124) was conducted on 14 alloy heats with varying
additions of cobalt,
molybdenum, titanium, and aluminum. An alloy parameter, shown as the horizontal axis in Fig. 74,
was devised that
predicted the KIscc resistance to an aqueous 3.5% NaCl solution with reasonable accuracy. A linear
regression analysis
indicated a correlation coefficient of -0.88, which means that this alloy parameter explains about 77%
(r2) of the variation
in KIscc. Because the yield strengths range from 1420 to 1960 MPa (206 to 284 ksi) and there were
additional possibilities
of microstructural influence, it is difficult to account for all variables.