Hydrogen effects on the tensile and fatigue properties of Eurofer’97

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of Eurofer’97 was investigated by means of constant extension rate tensile (CERT) and fully reversed load-control low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests, run at room temperature and under electrochemical charging before and during specimen deformation. Increasing H content from 1.6 to 5.6 wppm caused increasing ductility loss compared to air behaviour and increasing data scatter from replicated CERT tests in terms of embrittlement indexes and fracture modes. The same trend manifested itself on Eurofer fatigue lifetimes after cyclic loading below the monotonic yield, but to a major degree as frequency was lowered. Fractographic analysis under scanning electron microscope indicated that brittle cracking, which macroscopically involved intergranular (IG) or transgranular (TG) separation, included morphologies closely related to HE phenomena through plastic flow modification and/ or interface decohesion. Correlation of these results with H desorption spectra and microstructural assessments suggested that the origin of mechanical response variability from specimen-to-specimen with similar H levels could arise from material heterogeneity in terms of trap characteristics.