Hydrogen assisted stress-cracking behaviour of electron beam welded supermartensitic stainless steel weldments

Supermartensitic stainless steel (SMSS) grades are gaining popularity as an alternate material to duplex and super duplex stainless steels for applications in oil and gas industries. The weldability of these steels, though reported to be better when compared to conventional martensitic stainless steels, so far has been addressed with duplex stainless steel electrodes/fillers. This work addresses the stress-cracking behaviour of weldments of a high-grade supermartensitic stainless steel (11% Cr, 6.5% Ni and 2% Mo) in the presence of hydrogen. Welds were produced with matching consumables, using electron beam welding (EBW) process. Weldments were subjected to slow strain rate tests in 0.1 M NaOH solution, with introduction of hydrogen into the specimens by means of potentiostatic cathodic polarisation at a potential of −1200 mV versus Ag/AgCl electrode. Reference tests were performed in air for comparison, and the results suggest that both the SMSS base material and the EB weld metal are susceptible to embrittlement under the conditions of hydrogen charging.