The hydrogen trapping phenomena in two bainite/martensite dual-phase high strength steels (U20Si and U20DSi) were investigated by electrochemical permeation technique. The hydrogen diffusivity was calculated from data of permeation delay time, and the diffusion coefficient in U20Si is far less than that in U20DSi. Moreover, the hydrogen diffusivity decreases as the volume percent of retained austenite increases. The experiment results show that there are different hydrogen trappings and different volume percents of retained austenite in U20Si and U20DSi. The retained austenite is precipitated as films. The trap binding energy for the retained austenite and hydrogen is calculated to be 40.4 kJ·mol-1.
The susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement ofbainite/martensite dual-phase high strength steel with different morphologies obtained by the conventional and thermo-mechanical heat treatments has been investigated by means of electrolytic hydrogen charging. The results showed that the finer the microstructure, the lower the sensitivity of steel to hydrogen embrittlement. The fractographic analysis suggested that the fracture mode of the hydrogen-charged specimens is of a mixture of quasicleavage and dimple for both treating processes. The quasicleavage facet of the thermomechanical treated specimen is smaller than that of the conventional heated one, which is probably the reason for reducing the susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement. Fracture metallographic observations showed that the crack propagates preferentially along bainite/martensite laths boundary, and suggested that the fracture mode is of predominantly lath boundary separation.
CHANG Kai-diGU Jia-linFANG Hong-shengBAI Bing-zheZHANG Wen-zhengYANG Zhi-gangLIU Dong-yuZHANG Chi
