Best practice guidelines for detecting and mitigating waterside cracking (stress-assisted corrosion) in power and recovery boilers, Technical Information Paper TIP 0402-38 (2026)
This Technical Information Paper (TIP) provides guidelines for detecting and mitigating stress-assisted corrosion (SAC) in boiler components. SAC, also called corrosion fatigue or waterside cracking, is a corrosion mechanism that produces crack-like damage or fissures, often in a multi-crack cluster, on water-contacted surfaces in tubes, headers and piping in all types of boilers. SAC usually occurs adjacent to the footprint of an external attachment, near a weld and wherever the internal surface of a carbon steel tube or pipe experiences cyclic stress high enough to cyclically rupture the protective magnetite oxide scale. A potential consequence of this corrosion damage mechanism is a leak, which may cause steam washing consequential damage on adjacent components. In other cases, the corrosion fissure damage can be so severe that the tube splits and ruptures.
Best practice guidelines for detecting and mitigating waterside cracking (stress-assisted corrosion)