Methods of Material Testing in High-Pressure Hydrogen Environment and Evaluation of Hydrogen Compatibility of Metallic Materials: Current Status in Japan

In Japan, with regards to the widespread commercialization of 70 MPa-class hydrogen refueling stations and fuel cell vehicles, two national projects have been promoted on both the infrastructure and the automobile sides. These projects have been promoted to establish the criteria for determining hydrogen compatibility of materials and to expand the usable materials for high-pressure hydrogen environment. For these projects, establishing test methods to evaluate the hydrogen compatibility of materials is one of the most important tasks. This paper describes the status of common standardization of testing methods. Two projects share a common database for the testing results, which is currently put to practical use.