Abstract
The effects of hydrogen on the tensile properties and fracture processes at room temperature were investigated. Specimens were tested at various strain rates in air or under different cathodic charging-current densities. The slopes of the stress-strain curves were essentially identical for all the specimens, except that the fracture points varied under different test conditions. Macroscopically, hydrogen only affected the elastic deformation behavior, but microscopically, the embrittlement was caused by the heterogeneous nucleation of localized plastic deformation. The degree of hydrogen embrittlement increased as the charging current increased or as the strain rate decreased. With the same charging current and time, longer dynamic charging resulted in more severe embrittlement. Before fracture took place, the strength of the alloy could be completely restored if hydrogen had been removed. Hydrogen diffusivity and solubility were used to draw the time-dependent hydrogen concentration profiles for the specimens under different charging conditions. The difference in the mechanical properties was correlated with the hydrogen concentration within the specimen.
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