Some experiments and comments on the effect of hydrogen on the austenite to martensite transformation in a 1% carbon low alloy steel

Experiments have been carried out to study the effect of hydrogen on the austenite to martensite transformation in a 1% C low alloy steel. Hydrogen was introduced into steel just prior to transformation to martensite by soaking the steel in a 97% pure argon and 3% pure hydrogen mixture and continuously sparking it to liberate atomic hydrogen. This method of introducing hydrogen minimized the irreversible damage to the microstructure often observed after cathodic charging. The results show that hydrogen has no significant effect on the amount of retained austenite for the steel studied.