Current Challenges and Opportunities Toward Understanding Hydrogen Embrittlement Mechanisms in Advanced High-Strength Steels: A Review

doi:10.1007/s40195-021-01233-1

Abstract

Abstract:

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) is one of the most dangerous yet most elusive embrittlement problems in metallic materials. Advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) are particularly prone to HE, as evidenced by the serious degradation of their load-bearing capacity with the presence of typically only a few parts-per-million H. This strongly impedes their further development and application and could set an abrupt halt for the weight reduction strategies pursued globally in the automotive industry. It is thus important to understand the HE mechanisms in this material class, in order to develop effective H-resistant strategies. Here, we review the related research in this field, with the purpose to highlight the recent progress, and more importantly, the current challenges toward understanding the fundamental HE mechanisms in modern AHSS. The review starts with a brief introduction of current HE models, followed by an overview of the state-of-the-art micromechanical testing techniques dedicated for HE study. Finally, the reported HE phenomena in different types of AHSS are critically reviewed. Focuses are particularly placed on two representative multiphase steels, i.e., ferrite-martensite dual-phase steels and ferrite-austenite medium-Mn steels, with the aim to highlight the multiple dimensions of complexity of HE mechanisms in complex AHSS. Based on this, open scientific questions and the critical challenges in this field are discussed to guide future research efforts.

Key words: Hydrogen embrittlement, Advanced high-strength steels (AHSS), Damage mechanisms, Multiphase steels

Binhan Sun, Dong Wang, Xu Lu, Di Wan, Dirk Ponge, Xiancheng Zhang. Current Challenges and Opportunities Toward Understanding Hydrogen Embrittlement Mechanisms in Advanced High-Strength Steels: A Review[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2021, 34(6): 741-754.

Figures/Tables 10

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram showing the failure mechanism induced by the HELP model. (Reprinted with permission from Ref. [20])

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram showing the failure mechanism induced by the AIDE model (?a, the length of the crack growth). (Reprinted with permission from Ref. [20])

Fig. 3 a Fracture surface of H pre-charged and fractured X65 pipeline steel; b higher magnification view of the area marked in a; c atomic force microscopy (AFM) topography image from a “brittle” facet in the fracture surface of the same specimen. (Reconstructed with permission from Ref. [61])

Fig. 4 Schematic drawing of a an indentation test at maximum load, b the corresponding load-displacement curve

Fig. 5 Schematic drawing of the electrochemical nanoindentation (ECNI) setup. (Reprinted with permission from Ref. [65])

Fig. 6 SEM micrographs showing the deformation behavior of microcantilevers bent in a-a1 air, in b-b1 H atmosphere. (Reprinted with permission from Ref. [93])

Fig. 7 Micrographs of micropillar lamellae containing a representative low-angle grain boundary (LAGB1) after the compression tests for samples under the a1 H-free (air), b1 H-charged conditions. Transmission-EBSD results showing the corresponding a2, b2 inverse pole figures, a3, b3 image quality maps and a4, b4 kernel average misorientation (KAM) maps. (Reprinted with permission from Ref. [3])

Fig. 8 a EBSD image quality (IQ) map showing the initial non-deformed microstructure of the DP steel used in Ref. [11]; b EBSD IQ, inverse pole figure (IPF) and kernel average misorientation (KAM) map b1-b3 and schematic diagrams b4 showing the H-induced crack nucleation at prior-austenite grain boundaries, which was proposed to be due to the HEDE effect c EBSD results c1-c3 and schematic diagrams c4-c8 showing the H-induced crack propagation inside ferrite close to the crack tip. (Reconstructed with permission from Ref. [11])

Fig. 9 EBSD and ECCI results, TDS spectrum and schematic diagrams showing the H trapping behavior in a medium-Mn steel with a a ferrite matrix, b an austenite matrix. (Reconstructed with permission from [13])

Fig. 10 Schematic diagram showing the major challenges for understanding HE mechanisms in AHSS and common experimental and modeling methods that can be applied to address these challenges

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