Growth characteristics of stress corrosion cracking in high-strength 7075 aluminum alloy in sodium chloride solutions

•A method to obtain crack growth property of Al alloy in NaCl solution was proposed.•Growth rate of a stress corrosion crack increased with increasing stress intensity.•Corrosion products were formed in the crack, which formed crack bridging.•Crack growth was decelerated because the crack bridging hindered crack opening.•Inhibitor of corrosion products is effective to obtain the crack growth property.