Publications
Hydrogen embrittlement of structural steels
Carbon-manganese steels are candidates for the structural materials in hydrogen gas pipelines, however it is well known that these steels are susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. Decades of research and industrial experience have established that hydrogen embrittlement compromises the structural integrity of steel components. This experience has also helped identify the failure modes that can operate in hydrogen containment structures. As a result, there are tangible ideas for managing hydrogen embrittement in steels and quantifying safety margins for steel hydrogen containment structures. For example, fatigue crack growth aided by hydrogen embrittlement is a key failure mode for steel hydrogen containment structures subjected to pressure cycling. Applying appropriate structural integrity models coupled with measurement of relevant material properties allows quantification of safety margins against fatigue crack growth in hydrogen containment structures. Furthermore, application of these structural integrity models is aided by the development of micromechanics models, which provide important insights such as the hydrogen distribution near defects in steel structures. The principal objective of this project is to enable application of structural integrity models to steel hydrogen pipelines. The new American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) B31.12 design code for hydrogen pipelines includes a fracture mechanics-based design option, which requires material property inputs such as the threshold for rapid cracking and fatigue crack growth rate under cyclic loading. Thus, one focus of this project is to measure the rapid-cracking thresholds and fatigue crack growth rates of line pipe steels in high-pressure hydrogen gas. These properties must be measured for the base materials but more importantly for the welds, which are likely to be most vulnerable to hydrogen embrittlement. The measured properties can be evaluated by predicting the performance of the pipeline using a relevant structural integrity model, such as that in ASME B31.12. A second objective of this project is to enable development of micromechanics models of hydrogen embrittlement in pipeline steels. The focus of this effort is to establish physical models of hydrogen embrittlement in line pipe steels using evidence from analytical techniques such as electron microscopy. These physical models then serve as the framework for developing sophisticated finite-element models, which can provide quantitative insight into the micromechanical state near defects. Understanding the micromechanics of defects can ensure that structural integrity models are applied accurately and conservatively.