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Ferrite effects on the hydrogen embrittlement of 17-4PH stainless steel

Yaojie Zheng (School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China)
Huili Sun (School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China)
Luchun Yan (School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China)
Huisheng Yang (School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China)
Kewei Gao (School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China and Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China)
Xiaolu Pang (School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China and Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China)
Alex A. Volinsky (Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA)

Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials

ISSN: 0003-5599

Article publication date: 11 April 2022

Issue publication date: 14 April 2022

325

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of ferrite on hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of the 17-4PH stainless steels.

Design/methodology/approach

The effects of ferrite on HE of the 17-4PH stainless steels were investigated by observing microstructure and conducting slow-strain-rate tensile tests and hydrogen permeability tests.

Findings

The microstructure of the ferrite-bearing sample is lath martensite and banded ferrite, and the ferrite-free sample is lath martensite. After hydrogen charging, the plasticity of the two steels is significantly reduced, along with the tensile strength of the ferrite-free sample. The HE susceptibility of the ferrite-bearing sample is significantly lower than the ferrite-free steel, and the primary fracture modes gradually evolved from typical dimple to quasi-cleavage and intergranular cracking. After aging at 480°C for 4 h and hydrogen charging for 12 h, the 40.9% HE susceptibility of ferrite-bearing samples was the lowest. In addition, the hydrogen permeation tests show that ferrite is a fast diffusion channel for hydrogen, and the ferrite-bearing samples have higher effective hydrogen diffusivity and lower hydrogen concentration.

Originality/value

There are a few studies of the ferrite effect on the HE properties of martensitic precipitation hardening stainless steel.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by the Basic and Applied Basic Research Major Project of Guangdong Province, China (2019B030302011) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51971034 and 51771026).

Citation

Zheng, Y., Sun, H., Yan, L., Yang, H., Gao, K., Pang, X. and Volinsky, A.A. (2022), "Ferrite effects on the hydrogen embrittlement of 17-4PH stainless steel", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 69 No. 3, pp. 331-338. https://doi.org/10.1108/ACMM-03-2022-2615

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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