Abstract: The microfractography of transgranular stress corrosion cracking (TSCC) of 70Cu-30Zn a-brass in ammoniacal solution was studied. The observations indicate that on a very microscale, the crack path of TSCC of or-brass follows {111} planes. The crack path very often alternates between {111} Planes to result in "cleavage-like"facet, the usual average orientation of which is {110} with preferential microscopic crack propagation in (100) and (112) directions. The average orientation of wide secondary facets is often close to {100}. The size of {111} microfacets increases with incrmsing stress intensity K, which indicates that the microscopic crack path follows {111} planes on which some localized slip has occurred. Possible TSCC mechanisms which appear to be consistent with the microfraphic features observed in the present study are also discussed.

Key words: fractography, transgranular stress corrosion cracking (TSCC), 70Cu-30Zn a-brass, face-centered cubic (FCC) metal