The Hydrogen Embrittlement of Steels for the Automotive Industry

Abstract

The aim of this work is to determine the effect of hydrogen embrittlement on the mechanical properties of three different automotive steels. The steels evaluated included 590 TRIP steel, 1180Y steel and SABC-1470 steel. Electrolytic hydrogenation was carried out in a 0.05 M H2SO4 solution with 1 g of KSCN at a current density of 0.5 mA/cm2 and 1 mA/cm2. Mechanical test results show that hydrogen significantly affected the ductility of the 590 TRIP steel but did not affect its ultimate strength. The ultimate strength has been significantly reduced in 1180Y high strength steel. SABC-1470 steel showed the lowest sensitivity to hydrogen embrittlement. After hydrogenation, the mechanism of crack propagation under tensile loading at slow strain rate was significantly changed. The presence of hydrogen in steel led to different failure mechanisms depending on their microstructure.