Tom Depover

The impact of hydrogen on the ductility loss of bainitic Fe–C alloys

The influence of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of generic lab-cast Fe–C bainitic alloys is studied by tensile tests on notched samples. The bainitic microstructure is induced in a 0.2% C and 0.4% C Fe–C alloy by an appropriate heat treatment. The hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility is evaluated by mechanical tests on both in situ hydrogen pre-charged and uncharged specimens. The observed ductility loss of the materials is correlated with the present amount of hydrogen and the hydrogen diffusion coefficient. In addition to the correlation between the amount of hydrogen and the hydrogen-induced ductility loss, the hydrogen diffusion during the tensile test, quantified by the hydrogen diffusion distance during the test, appears to be of major importance as well.

Evaluation of the Effect of TiC Precipitates on the Hydrogen Trapping Capacity of Fe-C-Ti Alloys

The present work evaluates the hydrogen trapping behavior of different laboratory cast generic Fe-C-Ti martensitic alloys. Titanium carbides were precipitated in the materials by well-designed heat treatments. A quenched and tempered martensitic matrix with final strength above 1000 MPa was aimed for and verified by means of hardness measurements. Tempering allowed generating precipitates with different characteristics in terms of coherency, size and distribution due to the secondary hardening effect, as was evaluated by transmission electron microscopy. The hydrogen trapping capacity of the TiC precipitates was investigated by thermal desorption spectroscopy, while melt extraction was performed to determine the amount of hydrogen present after cathodic hydrogen charging. Generally, it could be concluded that the incoherent particles in the quenched material were not able to trap hydrogen, whereas the quenched and tempered material trapped hydrogen at the interface of small probably coherent TiC.

Microstructural Characterization of Hydrogen Induced Cracking in TRIP Steels by EBSD

The present work evaluates hydrogen induced cracking in a high strength TRIP steel with a complex multiphase microstructure, containing ferrite, bainite, retained austenite, and some martensite. Each structural constituent demonstrates a different behavior in the presence of hydrogen and when deformed, the retained austenite transforms to martensite. The goal of this work is to understand the response of the hydrogen saturated multiphase structure to a mechanical load. A tensile test on notched samples combined with in-situ electrochemical hydrogen charging was carried out. The test was interrupted at certain specific points, before the macroscopic failure of the material. Hydrogen induced crack initiation and propagation were examined by studying several intermediate elongations. The microstructure of the samples was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The EBSD measurements allowed both microstructural and crystallographic characterization of the hydrogen induced crack surroundings. A correlation was found between the occurrence of martensite, which is known to be very susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement, and the initiation of hydrogen induced cracks. These cracks were located at the surface in specific high stressed regions. Finite element simulations indicated that these regions were induced due to the presence of the notch.

Understanding the Interaction between a Steel Microstructure and Hydrogen

The present work provides an overview of the work on the interaction between hydrogen (H) and the steel’s microstructure. Different techniques are used to evaluate the H-induced damage phenomena. The impact of H charging on multiphase high-strength steels, i.e., high-strength low-alloy (HSLA), transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) and dual phase (DP) is first studied. The highest hydrogen embrittlement resistance is obtained for HSLA steel due to the presence of Ti- and Nb-based precipitates. Generic Fe-C lab-cast alloys consisting of a single phase, i.e., ferrite, bainite, pearlite or martensite, and with carbon contents of approximately 0, 0.2 and 0.4 wt %, are further considered to simplify the microstructure. Finally, the addition of carbides is investigated in lab-cast Fe-C-X alloys by adding a ternary carbide forming element to the Fe-C alloys. To understand the H/material interaction, a comparison of the available H trapping sites, the H pick-up level and the H diffusivity with the H-induced mechanical degradation or H-induced cracking is correlated with a thorough microstructural analysis.