Analysis of hydrogen behavior in high strength steels joints welded by SMAW.

Abstract

Nowadays, the worldwide consumption of welded steel products continues growing, as they are vital for the automotive, construction and machinery industries, among others. There is extensive research and development regarding hydrogen embrittlement (HE), mainly devoted to hydrogen assisted cracking. Major sources of hydrogen (H) in a weld come from water/moisture chemically bonded to electrodes, apart from the hydrogen contained in the chemical composition of steel and the environmental hydrogen absorbed by the liquid pool generated by electric arcs. During cooling, part of this H may diffuse from the welded joints into the heat affected zone (HAZ) and base metal (BM) or remain occluded in irreversible traps, such as interfaces inclusions-matrix, precipitates and martensite needles. However, H can also be trapped in vacancies and dislocations. Literature refers to this as reversible or diffusible H, that is, traps where H has a short residence time at temperature of interest and, thus, is responsible for failure. In general, the greater the amount of H retained, the greater the risk of cracking and embrittlement, leading to a significant variation in the mechanical properties of the welded steel joint. Owing to this, it is extremely important to study steel susceptibility to H damage and its consequent embrittlement. The first part of this chapter is related to the interactions between H in high strength steels during welding processes, emphasizing the effects on the mechanical properties of these welded joints. Then, H electrolytic charge in two high strength steels (SAE 1045 and a hot rolled microalloyed steel with vanadium, titanium and niobium – MLC) and experimental methodology are detailed. Afterwards, the mechanical behavior of hydrogenated steels joints and electron microscopy techniques employed are evaluated. Finally, there is a discussion of the obtained results and the conclusions reached.