Hydrogen will be a crucial pillar in the clean-energy foundation, and therefore, the development of safe and cost-effective storage and transportation methods is essential to its success. One of the key challenges in the development of such storage and transportation methods is related to the interaction of hydrogen with structural materials. Despite extensive work, there are significant questions related to the hydrogen embrittlement of ferritic steels due to challenges associated with these steels, coupled with the difficulties with gauging the hydrogen content in all materials. Recent advancements in experimental tools and multi-scale modeling are starting to provide insight into the embrittlement process. This review focuses on a subset of the recent developments, with an emphasis on how new methods have improved our understanding of the structure–property–performance relationships of ferritic steels subjected to mechanical loading in a hydrogen environment. The structure of ferritic steels in the presence of hydrogen is described in terms of the sorption and dissociation processes, the diffusion through the lattice and grain boundaries, and the hydrogen–steel interactions. The properties of ferritic steels subjected to mechanical loading in hydrogen are also investigated; the effects of test conditions and hydrogen pressure on the tensile, fracture, and fatigue properties of base metal and welds are highlighted. The performance of steels in hydrogen is then explored via a comprehensive analysis of the various embrittlement mechanisms. Finally, recent insights from in situ and high-resolution experiments are presented and future studies are proposed to address challenges related to embrittlement in ferritic steels.
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Hydrogen embrittlement in ferritic steels
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December 2020
Review Article|
October 06 2020
Hydrogen embrittlement in ferritic steels
May L. Martin
;
May L. Martin
a)
Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: may.martin@nist.gov
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Matthew J. Connolly
;
Matthew J. Connolly
Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
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Frank W. DelRio
;
Frank W. DelRio
Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
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Andrew J. Slifka
Andrew J. Slifka
Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: may.martin@nist.gov
Appl. Phys. Rev. 7, 041301 (2020)
Article history
Received:
May 05 2020
Accepted:
August 03 2020
Citation
May L. Martin, Matthew J. Connolly, Frank W. DelRio, Andrew J. Slifka; Hydrogen embrittlement in ferritic steels. Appl. Phys. Rev. 1 December 2020; 7 (4): 041301. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0012851
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