In this paper, a shot peening was conducted to improve fatigue life by increasing resistance to hydrogen embrittlement of STS316 steel, which is widely used in hydrogen environments. First, considering the efficiency of the shot peening process, an effective Almen intensity was selected and applied to the specimen surface. Second, the specimen was hydrogen embrittled at room temperature (25°C) and high temperature (60°C) using electrochemical hydrogen charging. Third, the mechanical property tests (tensile, hardness, roughness) and 4-points rotational bending fatigue tests of the specimen were performed. All mechanical properties decreased, but the fatigue life of the shot peened specimens improved at the both temperature conditions. Ultimately, the fatigue characteristics against hydrogen embrittlement of STS316 steel, which is used in various industrial fields, are improved through an effective shot peening process, and the effect is believed to be very significant.

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.

Due to global warming and environmental pollution, environmental regulations are getting stronger, and the International Maritime Organization announced regulations to reduce CO2 emissions in 2018. In order to respond to this, interest in hydrogen energy is growing, and research on liquid hydrogen is spotlighted for storage and transport of large amounts of hydrogen. Hydrogen reduces in volume to 1/800 when liquefied, but its boiling point is close to absolute zero(-253°C), and hydrogen embrittlement that penetrates other materials and weakens mechanical properties. In this study, the change of mechanical properties under cryogenic conditions (-196 degrees below zero) was confirmed after charging hydrogen into existing cryogenic materials (Stainless steel, High Manganese steel, 9% Nickel steel). In Part I, hydrogen was charged using an electrochemical method and quantitative evaluation was performed. In all four materials, as the changing time increased, the diffusible hydrogen concentration increased. After 24 hours charging, the hydrogen loading of 20 wppm in 9% Ni steel and 15 wppm in high-Mn steel was confirmed. In a follow-up study, we plan to study the effect of hydrogen charging by comparing the results of the mechanical properties test with the above results.

The hydrogen embrittlement of two austenitic high-manganese steels was investigated using tensile testing under high-pressure gaseous hydrogen. The test results were compared with those of different kinds of austenitic alloys containing Ni, Mn, and N in terms of stress and ductility. It was found that the ultimate tensile stress and ductility were more remarkably decreased under high-pressure gaseous hydrogen than under high-pressure gaseous argon, unlike the yield stress. In the specimens tested under high-pressure gaseous hydrogen, transgranular fractures were usually observed together with intergranular cracking near the fracture surface, whereas in those samples tested under high-pressure gaseous argon, ductile fractures mostly occurred. The austenitic high-manganese steels showed a relatively lower resistance to hydrogen embrittlement than did those with larger amounts of Ni because the formation of deformation twins or microbands in austenitic highmanganese steels probably promoted planar slip, which is associated with localized deformation due to gaseous hydrogen.

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.

CASS(Cast Austenitic Stainless Steel) materials are used in pressure-boundary components, such as piping and pump casing in power plant. When CASS components are exposed to high temperature (i.e. over 280oC) for a long time, thermal embrittlement could occur. Thermal embrittlement susceptibility of pipings and pump casings are determined by calculate the ferrite contents and fracture toughness. For some piping components, ferrite contents exceed the criterion value, are potentially susceptible to thermal embrittlement. But fracture toughness value is high enough to satisfy susceptibility criterion for all CASS components. Also flaw tolerance evaluation is assessed to piping and pump casing. As a result, there were no significant thermal embrittlement risk on CASS components.

본 연구에서는 주조 2상 스테인리스강의열시효에 대한 시효온도, 시효시간 및 Nb함유량의 영향을 관찰하기 위해 기계적 성질 및 조직을 조사하였으며 Nb을 함유한 주조 2상 스테인리스강의 파괴기구를 규명하기 위해 SEM에 의한 파단면 관찰과 WDS성분분석을 통해 파괴기구의 특성을 고찰하였다. 시효온도와 시효시간이 증가함에 따라 페라니트으 미소경도가 증가하였으며 항복강도의 경우 시효온도와 시효시간에는 영향을 받지 않았으나 Nb을 함유한 재료들이 Nb을 함유치 않은 재료들에 비해 다소 낮은 항복강도 값을 보였다. 충격흡수에너지 값은 시효시간 및 시효온도의 증가에 따라 시험된 모든 재료에서 저하되었는데 0.4% Nb을 함유하는 경우 Nb을 약간 함유하거나 함유치 않은 재료들에 비해 시효시간에 따라 급격한 감소 경향을 보였다. 파단면 관찰결과 페라이트 기지 또는 페라이트/오스테나이트 상경계에서 석출된 VbC를 비롯한 탄화물들이 취성저항성을 낮추는데 크게 기여했음을 알 수 있었다.

Fe78B13Si9 비정질 합금의 결정화 거동과 취성 현상을 시차열량기 시험, x-선회절시험 및 투과 전자현미경 관찰을 통해서 조사 연구하였다. 결정화는 두단계의 발열반응으로 진행되었으며, 첫번째 단계에서는 비정질로부터 B.C.C. 구조인 α-(Fe, Si)의 수지상이 생성되었고, 두번째 단계에서는 남아있던 비정질로부터 B.C.T 구조인 Fe2B가 형성되었다. 에닐링 온도에 따른 시편의 파단과 변형율은 비정질 상태인 약 340˚C부터 급긱히 감소하였다.