Hydrogen-Assisted Microdamage of Eutectoid Pearlitic Steel in the Presence of Notches: The Tearing Topography Surface

Abstract

This paper studies the hydrogen-assisted microdamage (HAMD) in fully-pearlitic steel. A detailed analysis is provided of the HAMD region in axisymmetric round-notched samples of high-strength eutectoid pearlitic steel under hydrogen embrittlement environmental conditions. The microscopic appearance and evolution of the hydrogen affected region is analyzed from the initiation (sub-critical) to the fracture (critical) situations. The use of very distinct notched samples and their associated stress distributions in the vicinity of the notch tip allows for a study of the key role of the triaxial stress state on hydrogen diffusion and micro-cracking (or micro-damage). The microscopic appearance of the hydrogen-affected zone (the so-called tearing topography surface) resembles micro-damage, micro-cracking or micro-tearing at a micro- or nano-scale due to hydrogen degradation, thus affecting the notch tensile strength and producing hydrogen embrittlement. A micromechanical model is proposed to explain these hydrogen effects on the material on the basis of the lamellar micro- and nano-structure of the pearlitic steel.