Hydrogen-Related Fracture Behavior under Constant Loading Tensile Test in As-Quenched Low-Carbon Martensitic Steel

Abstract

This study investigated the hydrogen-related fracture behavior in as-quenched low-carbon martensitic steel under a constant loading tensile test with various applied stresses. We found that the fracture time in the constant loading tensile test decreased as the applied stress and hydrogen content increased. The fracture surface topography analysis revealed that when the applied stress was low, the intergranular fracture was initiated around the side surface of the specimen and gradually propagated into the inner part of the specimen. In contrast, several intergranular fractures were separately initiated inside the specimen when the applied stress was high. The mode of hydrogen-related fracture was controlled by the fracture stress and not by the global hydrogen content inside the specimen. Increasing the global hydrogen content caused a decrease in the duration required for the accumulation of critical local hydrogen concentration at the fracture initiation site (prior austenite grain boundary). Accordingly, we propose that the local state at the crack initiation site is constant under a given applied stress, even when the global hydrogen content is different.

Keywords

• hydrogen embrittlement
• martensitic steel
• constant loading tensile test
• fracture surface topography analysis