Participation of hydrogen in slow bending behaviour of 304L stainless steel

Abstract

Three point bending test studies on 304L austenitic stainless steel at 293 and 77 K demonstrated that hydrogen charging promoted the formation of brittle fracture features at 293 K; promoted the formation of larger and shallower microvoids at 77 K; and reduced the energy absorbed by the material at both temperatures, although to a greater degree at 77 K. These observations suggest that although hydrogen redistribution during testing can affect the failure mode of this material, it is not a necessary requirement for hydrogen induced degradation. Furthermore, the observation that embrittlement is more severe at liquid nitrogen temperatures indicates that the effects of low temperatures and hydrogen may interact synergistically. The data presented in this paper are consistent with a model in which the embrittlement process is affected by local hydrogen concentrations.

MST/1930