The thermally insulated underground pipelines have been used for district heating system. The sensor wire embedded in the insulation was used for monitoring the insulating resistance between the sensor wire and the pipe. The resistance measurement system detects corrosion of steel pipe under insulation. The corrosion and stress corrosion cracking(SCC) characteristics of sensor wire in synthetic ground water were investigated using the electrochemical methods and constant load SCC tests. The polarization tests were used to study the electrochemical behavior of sensor wire. The sensor wire was passivated at temperatures ranging from 25 to $95^{circ}C$. However, the applied sensing current larger than passive current resulted in breakdown of passive film. The constant load SCC tests were performed to investigate the effects of applied current and load on the fracture behavior. Stress-corrosion cracks initiated at pits that were produced by sensing current. The growth of the pit involves a tunnelling mechanism, which leads to ductile fracture.