Mechanisms of corrosion and oxidation of metals and alloys

Selected topics in field of the study of the mechanisms of corrosion and of oxidation of metals or alloys are presented. The first part reports a new model for the mechanism of the breakaway oxidation of ferritic stainless st eels in water vapour. The second part is devoted to the physico-chemical as pects of oxidation and presents experimental methods useful in the kinetic modelling applied to two alloys, the zircalloy-4 and an AlMg5% in the liqui d state. In the third part the physical and numerical modelling of the stre ss corrosion cracking, behaviour in face-centered cubic (fcc) alloys is det ailed, which enables the study of the influence of macroscopic parameters ( such as the temperature or hydrogen activity) on the fracture process.