An X-ray Study on the Relation Between Hydrogen Embrittlement and Sulphonic Stress Corrosion in High Tension Steel

It is the object of the present study to clarify the relations in respect of behaviors between the hydrogen detected by the X-ray line profiles in high tension steels, in the class of 80kg/mm2 charged by cathodic hydrogen, and the hydrogen in the steel immersed in hydrogen sulfide solution.As the result of the two tests the following facts have been made clear.(1) In the test made by charging annealed material with cathodic hydrogen, the crystals were deformed plastically, and the lattice of the crystals expanded. In the case of quenched and tempered material, and in the case also of the so-called“received”material, the behaviors of hydrogen detected by the X-ray line profiles are mostly static.(2) In the test made of annealed material in hydrogen sulfide solution, (immersed in the solution non-stressed or restricted by bending stress), there were little change in the X-ray line profiles though the test was continued until crackings by the stress corrosion began to be observed. This was also the case with the so-called“received”material.The following conclusion can be made from the two tests mentioned above: that the hydrogen in the test (1) behaves differently from that in the test (2), and so it is considered that hydrogen is not allowed to invade the lattice of the crystals through hydrogen sulfide solution.