The influence of specimen geometry and notch on the hydrogen embrittlement of an SA372 steel for pressure vessels was investigated in this study. A slow strain-rate tensile (SSRT) test after the electrochemical hydrogen charging method was conducted on four types of tensile specimens with different directions, shapes (plate, round), and notches. The plate-type specimen showed a significant decrease in hydrogen embrittlement resistance owing to its large surface-to-volume ratio, compared to the round-type specimen. It is well established that most of the hydrogen distributes over the specimen surface when it is electrochemically charged. For the round-type specimens, the notched specimen showed increased hydrogen susceptibility compared with the unnotched one. A notch causes stress concentration and thus generates lots of dislocations in the locally deformed regions during the SSRT test. The solute hydrogen weakens the interactions between these dislocations by promoting the shielding effect of stress fields, which is called hydrogen-enhanced localized plasticity mechanisms. These results provide crucial insights into the relationship between specimen geometry and hydrogen embrittlement resistance.

금속의 취성화는 수소와 접촉하는 구조물을 안정적으로 설계하는데 있어서 큰 문제가 되어왔다. 본 논문에서는 분자동역학 해석을 통해 균열선단 주변에 모인 수소원자들이 전위 이동 현상을 억제하고, 이로 인해 벽개 파괴 현상이 발생하는 것을 확인하였다. 다양한 수소 농도, 하중 속도, 수소 확산 속도 등을 바꾸어가며 분자동역학 해석을 수행하였고, 이에 따른 수소 취성화를 최소화시킬 수 있는 조건들을 조사하였다. 분자동역학 해석 결과는 기존의 실험결과와 잘 일치하였으며 이를 바탕으로 수소 취성화 현상을 정량화하여 평가하였다.

The effect of Cr and Mo contents on the hydrogen embrittlement of tempered martensitic steels was investigated in this study. After the steels with different Cr and Mo contents were austenitized at 820 °C for 90 min, they were tempered at 630 °C for 120 min. The steels were composed of fully tempered martensite with a lath-type microstructure, but the characteristics of the carbides were dependent on the Cr and Mo contents. As the Cr and Mo contents increased, the volume fraction of film-like cementite and prior austenite grain size decreased. After hydrogen was introduced into tensile specimens by electrochemical charging, a slow strain-rate test (SSRT) was conducted to investigate hydrogen embrittlement behavior. The SSRT results revealed that the steel with lower Cr or lower Mo content showed relatively poor hydrogen embrittlement resistance. The hydrogen embrittlement resistance of the tempered martensitic steels increased with increasing Mo content, because the reduction in the film-like cementite and prior austenite grain size plays an important role in improving hydrogen embrittlement resistance. The results indicate that controlling the Cr and Mo contents is essential to achieving a tempered martensitic steel with a combination of high strength and excellent hydrogen embrittlement resistance.

Hydrogen embrittlement refers to a phenomenon in which the ductility and toughness of steel materials are lowered by hydrogen absorbed in metal materials, especially steel, and the tendency to fracture without plastic deformation increases. Fracture due to hydrogen absorption is also called delayed fracture, and it mainly occurs at grain boundaries, stress concentration areas, or areas subject to tensile stress. From a practical point of view, hydrogen embrittlement is frequently associated with corrosion, welding, pickling, electroplating, etc., and in materials, it is prominently displayed in stainless steel or high tensile steel. Regarding the embrittlement mechanism, there is no generally accepted orthodoxy. In this study, A hydrogen embrittlement mechanism is proposed. In addition, the method of suppressing hydrogen embrittlement will be considered.

Hydrogen is one of the main candidates in replacing fossil fuels in the forthcoming years. However, hydrogen technologies must deal with safety aspects due to the specific sub�stance properties. This study aims to provide an overview on the loss of mechanical properties of cryogenic materials, which may lead to serious consequences, such as fires and explosions. The hydrogen embrittlement of cryogenic steels was investigated through slow strain rate tensile tests (SSRTs) and thermal desorption analyses of electrochemically H-charged specimens. As a prior study to confirm mechanical properties under liquid hydrogen conditions, the amount of diffusive hydrogen that causes hydrogen embrittlement was confirmed after charging hydrogen using an electrochemical method for 4 types of steel materials applied as cryogenic materials did. When exposed to the same hydrogen charging conditions, the amount of hydrogen diffused into the 9% nickel steel is the highest compared to the austenitic steel type. It is considered that this is because the diffusion and integration of hydrogen into the interior is easy. It is necessary to analyze the relationship between hydrogen loading and mechanical properties, and this will be carried out in a follow-up study.

The hydrogen embrittlement of high strength steel for automobiles was evaluated by small punch (SP) test. The test specimens were fabricated to be 5 series, having various chemical compositions according to the processes of heat treatment and working. Hydrogen charging was electrochemically conducted for each specimen with varying of current density and charging time. It was shown that the SP energy and the maximum load decreased with increasing hydrogen charging time in every specimen. SEM investigation results for the hydrogen containing samples showed that the fracture behavior was a mixed fracture mode having 50% dimples and 50% cleavages. However, the fracture mode of specimens with charging hydrogen changed gradually to the brittle fracture mode, compared to the mode of other materials. All sizes and numbers of dimples decreased with increasing hydrogen charging time. These results indicate that hydrogen embrittlement is the major cause of fracture for high strength steels for automobiles; also, it is shown that the small punch test is a valuable test method for hydrogen embrittlement of high strength sheet steels for automobiles.

This study describes a hydrogen embrittlement evaluation of the subsurface zone in 590DP steel by micro-Vickers hardness measurement. The 590DP steel was designed to use in high-strength thin steel sheets as automotive materials. The test specimens were fabricated to 5 series varying the chemical composition through the process of casting and rolling. Electrochemical hydrogen charging was conducted on each specimen with varying current densities and charging times. The relationship between the embrittlement and hydrogen charging conditions was established by investigating the metallography. The micro-Vickers hardness was measured to evaluate the hydrogen embrittlement of the subsurface zone in addition to the microscopic investigation. The micro-Vickers hardness increased with the charging time at the surface. However, the changing ratio and maximum variation of hardness with depth were nearly the same value for each test specimen under the current density of 150 mA/cm2 and charging time of 50 hours. Consequently, it appears that hydrogen embrittlement in 590DP steel can be evaluated by micro-Vickers hardness measurement.

The hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of high strength TRIP/TWIP steels with the tensile strength of 600Mpa to 900Mpa grade was investigated using cathodically hydrogen charged specimens. TWIP steels with full austenite structure show a lower hydrogen content than do TRIP steels. The uniform distribution of strong traps throughout the matrix in the form of austenite is considered beneficial to reduce the hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of TWIP steels. Moreover, an austenite structure with very fine deformation twins formed during straining could also improve the ductility and reduce notch sensitivity. In Ubend and deep drawing cup tests, TWIP steels show a good resistance to hydrogen embrittlement compared with TRIP steels.