Su Yanjing

The mechanism of nucleation of hydrogen blister in metals

The nucleating, growing and cracking of hydrogen blister have been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The results show that atomic hydrogen induces superabundant vacancies in metals. The superabundant vacancies and hydrogen aggregate into a hydrogen-vacancy cluster (microcavity). The hydrogen atoms in the microcavity become hydrogen molecules which can stabilize the cluster. And the hydrogen blister nucleates. With the entry of vacancies and hydrogen atoms, the blister nucleus grows and the pressure in the cavity increases. When the stress induced by hydrogen pressure on the blister is up to the cohesive strength, cracks will initiate from the wall of the blister.

Initiating, growing and cracking of hydrogen blisters

The growing process of a hydrogen blister in a wheel steel was observed in situ with an optical microscope, and the fracture surfaces formed from broken blisters on a wheel steel and bulk metallic glass were investigated. The initiating, growing, cracking and breaking of hydrogen blisters are as follows. Supersaturated vacancies can increase greatly during charging and gather together into a vacancy cluster (small cavity). Hydrogen atoms become hydrogen molecules in the vacancy cluster and hydrogen molecules can stabilize the vacancy cluster. The small cavity becomes the nucleus of hydrogen blister. The blister will grow with entering of vacancies and hydrogen atoms. With increasing hydrogen pressure, plastic deformation occurs first, the hydrogen blister near the surface extrudes, and then cracks initiate along the wall of the blister with further increasing hydrogen pressure. A cracked blister can grow further through propagating of cracks until it breaks.

Study on delayed cracking of conductive notch under electric field in PZT-5H ferroelectric ceramics

Electric-field-induced delay cracking of conducting notch in PZT-5H ferroelectric ceramics has been studied using a compact specimen with a notch filled in conductive silver paste. The critical electric field that induces instant failure of the PZT-5H specimen is shown to be EF = 14.7±3.2 kV/cm. When an electric field lower than EF, but higher than EDF = 9.9 kV/cm was applied, a micro-crack formed at the conductive notch tip instantly, propagating slowly until the specimen failure. When the electric field was lower than EDF, the micro-crack propagated a short distance, and then stopped. When the electric field was lower than EK = 4.9 kV/cm, no cracks formed at the conductive notch tip instantly, however, a delay micro-crack would form and propagate. When the electric field was lower than EDK=2.4 kV/cm, no cracks formed and delay propagation occurred. A model for electric charge emission and concentration at a conductive notch is proposed to explain the delay cracking of conducting notch.

Relationship between Hydrogen Diffusion and Blistering Nucleation and Growth

The formation condition of hydrogen blister in 18Ni maraging steel without any inner or external stress was investigated. The results show that the critical diffusible hydrogen concentration of a blister forming is about 1.4 × 10–5, which is corresponding to the current density of 30 mA/cm2 during cathodic charging in a sodium hydroxide solution. For a 0.1 cm thick sample, no matter the current density is equal to or much larger than the critical value, it spends at least about 132 h to form a hydrogen blister when hydrogen charging in single direction. It is approximately equal to the time for hydrogen atom to diffuse throughout the sample, which exactly depends on the hydrogen diffusion coefficient and the penetration depth. The very first clear suggestion was reported that the incubation period for hydrogen blister nucleation was necessary. According to the Fick’s laws, calculations show that the normalized hydrogen concentration in the escaping surface almost reaches 0.96 times of the charging surface, which means that the diffusion almost reaches a dynamic balance. A model was illustrated to describe the competitive relationship between hydrogen diffusion and blister formation.