Effect of Surface Hardness and Hydrogen Sulfide Partial Pressure on Sulfide Stress Cracking Behavior in Low Alloy Linepipe Steel

Abstract

TMCP (thermo-mechanical controlled process) linepipes have long been used in severe sour environments, but recently sulfide stress cracking (SSC) caused by local hard zones has become a concern. In order to clarify the hardness threshold that leads to SSC, four-point bend (4PB) SSC tests as specified in NACE TM0316 were conducted under several H2S partial pressure conditions. At H2S partial pressures of 1 bar and higher, the surface hardness threshold (at 0.25 mm from the surface) observed in 4PB SSC specimens without SSC cracking was approximately correlated to a maximum acceptable hardness level of 250 HV0.1. A stable low surface hardness of 250 or less HV0.1 was achieved by suppressing hard lath bainite (LB) and obtaining a soft granular bainite (GB) microstructure, resulting in a superior SSC-resistant property. It was found that a SSC crack propagated when the surface hardness increased due to an increasing volume fraction of the LB microstructure. Under a 16 bar H2S partial pressure condition, the crack growth rate increased in the sour environment, and hydrogen embrittlement by H2S was promoted. However, in the 4PB SSC test at 16 bar, the stress concentration and the transition to a crack were suppressed because the shape of localized corrosion was semicircular due to low localized corrosivity. This can be the reason why the SSC susceptibility was similar to 1 bar condition, especially in the 4PB SSC test using the samples with lower surface hardness level of 250 or less HV0.1.