Abstract
Hydrogen compatibility of materials refers to the ability to exhibit reliable mechanical integrity and a probability of failure in a given hydrogen-exposed environment. Currently, no experimental methods for qualifying the hydrogen compatibility of materials have been standardized, and testing expertise has been restricted to only a few laboratories. With international coordination, this paper presents the experimental activities and results to establish a code of practice. The experimental campaign included a slow strain rate tensile (SSRT) test and a notched fatigue life test on SUS316L-grade austenitic stainless steel, which has been widely used in structural components in hydrogen service. Sub-sized tensile specimens were machined from a bar with a gauge diameter of 4.00 mm and a gauge length of 20 mm. A notched specimen with a notch angle of 60°, notch radius of 0.12 mm, and net section diameter of 4 mm was prepared for the fatigue life test. The net section stress in the notched specimen at maximum load (σmax) was 444 MPa in a tension—tension loading condition with a loading ratio of R = 0.1. The tests were performed at a temperature of 233 K (−40 °C) in two environmental conditions: high-pressure hydrogen gas at 90 MPa and nitrogen gas at 0.1 MPa (three tests for each condition). No noticeable degradation in yield strength and tensile strength was observed in the specimens tested under hydrogen pressure of 90 MPa H2 at −40 °C compared to that tested 0.1 MPa N2 at −40 °C, however, hydrogen had a remarkable effect on reduction area (RA), and strain at fracture. The consistency of the experimental conditions and results from different laboratories with a distinct testing system were closely compared and discussed.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the 2019~2021 KAIA/MOLIT Project (No.19TLRP-C152334-01) leaded by Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), Republic of Korea.
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Thanh Tuan Nguyen received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Chung-Ang University, Korea in 2018. He is currently working as a post-doctoral fellow at the Korea Research Institute of Standard and Science. His research interests are failure analysis, high-temperature fracture mechanics and the effect of gaseous hydrogen environments on the mechanical properties of materials.
Jaeyeong Park received his Ph.D. in Material Science Engineering from Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea in 2018. He is currently working as senior researcher at the Korea Research Institute of Standard and Science. His research interests are materials science and the mechanical behaviour of materials at high temperature, including anisotropic materials such as gas turbine blades.
Seung Hoon Nahm received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Kyungpook National University, Korea in 1997. He is currently working as principal research scientist at the Korea Research Institute of Standard and Science. His research interests are the mechanical behaviour of materials at the micro and nano-scales, hydrogen embrittlement and mechanical behaviour of materials at high temperature.
Un Bong Baek received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Kyungpook National University in 2001. He worked at Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.A. as a post-doctoral fellow during 2002–2003. Dr. Baek is currently Director of the Centre for Energy and Material Metrology of KRISS (Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science). His research interest is in the mechanical behaviour of materials in high-pressure hydrogen environments.
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Nguyen, T.T., Park, J., Nahm, S.H. et al. An experimental study for qualifying hydrogen compatibility of austenitic stainless steel under low temperature. J Mech Sci Technol 36, 157–165 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-021-1214-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-021-1214-8