Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) raises a lot of questions concerning complexity of stacked physical mechanisms. Synergy between electrochemical processes and mechanical field near the crack tip is now recognized. However, the influence of mechanical behaviour on corrosion processes is not well established and only few works dealt with this effect. Consequently, it seems to be necessary to determine the influence of the plastic strain on the surfaces reactivity in aqueous mediums. The great part of this work was devoted to the development of an electrochemical cell on a bench of mechanical test in order to carry out in situ measurements of current density. Three levels of interaction have been discussed taking into account the different expression of plastic deformation (dislocation density and distribution, slip bands emergence, stress field) in order to study the effect of mechanical state on dissolution, on passivation processes, and on stability of oxide film of polycrystalline nickel in H2SO4 solution. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.