Examination of hydrogen interaction in carbon steel by means of quantitative microstructural and fracture descriptions

The relations between the quantitative microstructural characteristics and the resistance of carbon steels to hydrogen- induced cracking (HIC) were studied for plates used in the oil and refinery industry. The width of the pearlitic bands and the degree of banding were considered if the testing of the resistance to HIC was performed in accordance with the NACE TM 0284 standard. The role of the degree of banding was important while that of the width of pearlitic bands was negligible, Additional hydrogen embrittlement testing of tensile specimens oriented in longitudinal and through-thickness directions revealed that hydrogen strongly increased the anisotropy of mechanical properties. These changes could be correlated with the geometric characteristics of nonmetallic inclusions (MnS) and the pearlitic bands in different metallographic sections. A quantitative description of fracture surfaces has been made by means of a profilometric method. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.