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Embrittlement of a 5 Pct Nickel high strength steel by impurities and their effects on hydrogen-induced cracking

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Abstract

Temper embrittlement induced by isothermal aging at 480°C (753 K) in a commercially produced heat of HY 130 steel is shown by Auger electron spectroscopy to be due mainly to intergranular segregation of Si, with additional contributions by P, N, and Sn. Studies of rates of crack growth in gaseous hydrogen at controlled temperature and pressure in specimens aged various amounts showed that, as the impurity concentration increased, the stress intensity for crack growth Kth dropped precipitously, the cracking mode changed from cleavage to intergranular, and the crack growth rate atK > K th increased. Hydrogen-induced crack growth occurred in a step-wise, rather than continuous, fashion. The impurity-plus-hydrogen effect is discussed in terms of a model adapted from an earlier theory of Oriani.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. General Electric Co., Corporate R & D Center, Schenectady, N.Y.

    C.L Briant (Staff Scientist)

  2. Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science, University of Pennsylvania, 19104, Philadelphia, PA

    C. J. McMahon (Professor)

Authors
  1. C.L Briant
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  2. H. C. Feng
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  3. C. J. McMahon
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Additional information

Formerly Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science, University of Pennsylvania

Formerly on the Research Staff, LRSM, University of Pennsylvania

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Briant, C., Feng, H.C. & McMahon, C.J. Embrittlement of a 5 Pct Nickel high strength steel by impurities and their effects on hydrogen-induced cracking. Metall Trans A 9, 625–633 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02659919

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02659919

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