A unified phase-field theory is introduced to describe crack initiation
and early crack growth due to pitting corrosion of pipelines in contact
with near-neutral pH groundwater. The model incorporates a formulation
that accounts for stochastic corrosion-induced crack nucleation events
at pit sites. This approach supplies a modeling framework to handle the
combined effects of electrochemical transformation of the original
metal, hydrogen diffusion and resulting embrittlement of the original
metal, and mechanical stresses. This is a robust computational approach
to tracking the evolving metalelectrolyte interface and embrittlement
regions. It was confirmed that dissolved hydrogen into the material
promotes crack initiation over a wide potential range and that pitting
corrosion, as a precursor of stress corrosion cracking, has a
recognizable influence on strength over time. It is expected that this
work provides the ground for modeling the pit-to-crack transition
required to effectively control very slow crack-in-colonies in
pipelines.