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Coating density as the key factor behind hydrogen embrittlement of cadmium-plated 4340 steel

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Abstract

The aerospace industry uses 200-h sustained-load test (SLT), described in ASTM F-519, to evaluate hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of their 4340 steel electroplated parts. The cadmium plating used in ASTM F-519 suggest that the coating density may affect HE in an important manner. Therefore, in this work, 4340 steel notched bars were plated with five different cadmium coating densities. Then, the SLT was combined with thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) to evaluate: (i) the degree of HE, and (ii) the hydrogen content of the cadmium-plated 4340 steel samples. The results show strong evidences that the major factor causing HE of cadmium-plated 4340 steel is the coating density. Moreover, an advanced analysis of TDS curves using the Hertz–Knudsen equation allows distinguishing hydrogen in steel from hydrogen in the cadmium coating. The advanced analysis also gives an estimation of the coating density, and therefore indicates if the baking will be effective at relieving embrittlement. Finally, TDS could be a good complementary tool to the SLT in evaluating HE.

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Data availability

The raw data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time due to technical or time limitations. The processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time due to technical or time limitations.

Notes

  1. This technique is more appropriate when the hydrogen measurement can not be perform immediately after the stripping like Berman did with his complete stripping [1].

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Consortium de Recherche et d’Innovation en Aérospatiale au Québec (CRIAQ), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), as well as the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT). We also want to thank our industrial partners, i.e. Bell Helicopter, Héroux-Devtek and Safran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polytechnique Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada

    J. Bellemare, S. Laliberté-Riverin, D. Ménard, M. Brochu & F. Sirois

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  1. J. Bellemare
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  2. S. Laliberté-Riverin
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  3. D. Ménard
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  4. M. Brochu
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  5. F. Sirois
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Correspondence to J. Bellemare.

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Bellemare, J., Laliberté-Riverin, S., Ménard, D. et al. Coating density as the key factor behind hydrogen embrittlement of cadmium-plated 4340 steel. J Appl Electrochem 50, 1045–1058 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-020-01458-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-020-01458-5

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