High-Energy Synchrotron Study of the Stress–Strain Behavior of Hydrogen-Charged High Strength Structural Steel

Abstract

High strength structural steels are susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. A critical combination of stress, amount of diffusible hydrogen and microstructure is believed to cause cold cracking. Especially during welding of high strength structural steels high tensile residual stresses may develop. Therefore, a feasibility study was conducted using synchrotron X-ray diffraction in order to analyze the stress–strain behavior during tensile loading. For that purpose two types of steel showing different hardening mechanisms were used. On the one hand a thermo-mechanically treated S1100MC and on the other hand a quenched and tempered S1300Q were chosen. The samples were electrochemically charged with hydrogen and subsequently stored in liquid nitrogen to prevent effusion. Tensile tests of the samples were conducted in a special load frame allowing for tilting the samples while applying constant loads. High energy synchrotron radiation was used for energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD) analysis in transmission geometry. This method offers the possibility for measuring several diffraction lines of all contributing crystalline phases of the material. Strains as well as stresses applying the sin2ψ-method were determined for varying load situations. This feasibility study shows how the interaction of hydrogen and the stress/strain response may be assessed by diffraction methods. Examples are presented showing that hydrogen alters the load distribution as well as the strain behavior between different lattice planes in high strength steels.