Filtern
Dokumenttyp
Sprache
- Englisch (2) (entfernen)
Referierte Publikation
- ja (2)
Schlagworte
- In situ (2) (entfernen)
We investigated hydrogen embrittlement and blistering in electrochemically hydrogen-charged technical iron samples at room temperature. Hydrogen-stimulated cracks and blisters and the corresponding hydrogen distributions were observed by neutron tomography. Cold neutrons were provided by the research reactor BER II to picture the sample with a spatial resolution in the reconstructed three-dimensional model of ~25 µm. We made the unique observation that cracks were filled with molecular hydrogen and that cracks were surrounded by a 50 µm wide zone with a high hydrogen concentration. The zone contains up to ten times more hydrogen than the bulk material. The hydrogen enriched zone can be ascribed to a region of increased local defect density. Hydrogen also accumulated at the sample surface having the highest concentration at blistered areas. The surfaces of the brittle fractured cracks showed micropores visualized by scanning electron microscopy. The micropores were located at grain boundaries and were surrounded by stress fields detected by electron backscattered diffraction. The cracks clearly originated from the micropores.
Hydrogen generally causes lattice distortions and phase transformations when introduced into a metallic crystal lattice. For the investigations reported in this contribution, hydrogen thermal desorption analysis has been carried out to observe the influence of hydrogen desorption on the lattice of super martensitic stainless steel during continuous heating. The lattice expansion parameter and the phase transformations have been monitored during the thermal desorption process, and the influence of hydrogen on such characteristics has been evaluated. It was found that hydrogen has a significant influence on both the lattice parameter and on the thermal expansion. However, hydrogen has no influence on phase transformation during thermal desorption. The hydrogen's desorption behavior in this process was also observed and it turned out that hydrogen desorbs in two stages, i.e., firstly diffusible hydrogen and trapped hydrogen afterward.