Influence of hydrogen on mechanical properties, microstructure and fracture surface of stainless steel 316L and stainless steel 304

Abstract: Since hydrogen is an alternative energy source and has both economic and environmental benefits, it has received more attention. To use hydrogen a certain condition must be met, safe pressurized containers which are often made of metal. The metal isrequired due to the high mechanical strength and reasonable cost. The problematic part is that hydrogen affects the mechanical properties of the material. Using metal in an environment with hydrogen will break down and lead to Hydrogen Environmental Embrittlement (HEE). If hydrogen will be used safely, understanding its effect on high-strength steel is necessary. Many studies have been done on hydrogen embrittlement, but it is not sufficient and therefore studies are still ongoing. The goal is to create further understanding of when components exposed to hydrogen in their service environment, in terms of mechanical, fracture surface and microstructural aspects. There are two types of stainless steel that was examined, 304 stainless steel (304 SS) and 316L stainless steel (316L SS), all specimens are cylindrical. The study mainly focused on mainly experimental aspects with some simulations. To charge the samples with hydrogen, a cathodic charging method was chosen. For fast strain rate, samples were loaded from 12 to 48 hours while slow strain rate was not preloaded. Measurement and Digital image correlation (DIC) were used due to slippage during tensile testing, it would also provide the actual engineering stress-strain curve. To see the microstructure, it was sanded, polished and etched. A special container was created to test the slow strain rate. This was done through several different tests. Both types of steel were affected by hydrogen, the yield strength and ductility were reduced. Charging at the slow strain rate leads to extreme embrittlement compared to the high strain rate. The grain boundaries had decreased in size after being charged with hydrogen. The 304 SS grains were more difficult to detect compared to the 316L SS. Different types of factors can affect the result, for the slow strain rate, hydrogen was present all the way until it reached its breaking point and after it started diffusion. Meanwhile, the hydrogen diffusion started at a high strain rate when it was taken out from charging in the container. During the time it takes to place the sample in the tensile testing machine and do the tensile test, the hydrogen diffuses, and it results in less brittleness. Keywords: Hydrogen embrittlement, tensile test, DIC, metallographic.