The susceptibility to crevice corrosion varies widely from one material-environment system to another. In general, crevice corrosion is of greatest concern for materials which are normally passive metals, like stainless steel or aluminum. Crevice corrosion tends to be of greatest significance to components built of highly corrosion-resistant superalloys and operating with the purest-available water chemistry. For example, steam generators in nuclear power plants degrade largely by crevice corrosion.
Crevice corrosion is extremely dangerous because it is localized and can lead to component failure while the overall material loss is minimal. The initiation and progress of crevice corrosion can be difficult to detect.