Effects of hydrogen partial pressure on crack initiation and growth rate in vintage X52 steel

León-Cázares, Fernando Daniel; Agnani, Milan; Ronevich, Joseph Allen; San Marchi, Chris William

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.02.292

Effects of hydrogen partial pressure on crack initiation and growth rate in vintage X52 steel

Journal Article · Thu Feb 29 00:00:00 EST 2024 · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.02.292· OSTI ID:2584891

^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

There is an increasing interest in ensuring compatibility of existing natural gas infrastructure with conveyance of hydrogen, especially for vintage (pre-1970s) pipeline steels. While hydrogen is known to affect the fatigue and fracture resistance of these materials, there is a lack of data on its effects on crack initiation at low hydrogen partial pressure. To address this gap, the current work presents a series of fatigue tests on vintage API Grade X52 steel in pure nitrogen, air and gaseous hydrogen at partial pressures of 1 and 207 bar. Circumferential notch tension (CNT) specimens with direct current potential difference (DCPD) measurements are used to get S–N curves for crack initiation and failure, and compact tension (CT) tests to assess crack growth rates. Results indicate that air accelerates crack initiation, low hydrogen partial pressure affects the crack growth rate, and higher pressures have the largest impact on both. Surprisingly, crack initiation is faster in air than at 1 bar hydrogen partial pressure. The CNT tests also reveal that the orientation of the banded microstructure has no effect on the crack initiation site, but it influences its growth behavior. Moreover, fractography shows that hydrogen also promotes instances of quasi-cleavage and intergranular fracture, linked to embrittlement of the material. Here, these results demonstrate that, while hydrogen may impact the entirety of the fatigue process, its effects on the early stages of damage accumulation become relevant only at larger pressures. More comprehensive studies of crack initiation in hydrogen atmospheres will be critical to future codes and standards for hydrogen infrastructure.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 2584891

Report Number(s):: SAND--2025-08006J; 1725070

Journal Information:: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Journal Name: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy Journal Issue: NA Vol. 136; ISSN 0360-3199

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (35)

Effects of gaseous hydrogen on fatigue crack growth in pipeline steel Cialone, H. J.; Holbrook, J. H. Metallurgical Transactions A, Vol. 16, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02656719	journal	January 1985
Estimating fracture toughness from small specimens Stark, H. L.; Ibrahim, R. N. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 25, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-7944(86)90253-5	journal	January 1986
Validity requirements for fracture toughness measurements obtained from small circumferentially notched cylindrical specimens Ibrahim, R. N.; Stark, H. L. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 28, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-7944(87)90190-1	journal	January 1987
Crack initiation and fatigue lives in air and vacuum environments Ellyin, F.; Li, B. Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 171, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-5093(93)90397-W	journal	November 1993
Eccentricity correction for the evaluation of fracture toughness from cylindrical notched test small specimens Ibrahim, R. N.; Kotousov, A. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 64, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-7944(99)00056-9	journal	September 1999
Fatigue behavior of a high strength steel in vacuum, in air and in 3.5% NaCl solution under cathodic protection Huneau, B.; Mendez, J. Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 345, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-5093(02)00099-0	journal	March 2003
Effects of humidity on crack initiation mechanism and associated S–N characteristics in very high strength steels Tokaji, K.; Ko, H. -N; Nakajima, M. Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 345, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-5093(02)00460-4	journal	March 2003
On the formation and nature of quasi-cleavage fracture surfaces in hydrogen embrittled steels Martin, May L.; Fenske, Jamey A.; Liu, Grace S. Acta Materialia, Vol. 59, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2010.11.024	journal	February 2011
Elucidating the variables affecting accelerated fatigue crack growth of steels in hydrogen gas with low oxygen concentrations Somerday, B. P.; Sofronis, P.; Nibur, K. A. Acta Materialia, Vol. 61, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2013.07.001	journal	September 2013
Interpretation of hydrogen-assisted fatigue crack propagation in BCC iron based on dislocation structure evolution around the crack wake Birenis, Domas; Ogawa, Yuhei; Matsunaga, Hisao Acta Materialia, Vol. 156 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.06.041	journal	September 2018
A multiscale study on the morphology and evolution of slip bands in a nickel-based superalloy during low cycle fatigue León-Cázares, F. D.; Schlütter, R.; Jackson, T. Acta Materialia, Vol. 182 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.10.033	journal	January 2020
Fatigue crack growth of two pipeline steels in a pressurized hydrogen environment Slifka, Andrew J.; Drexler, Elizabeth S.; Nanninga, Nicholas E. Corrosion Science, Vol. 78 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2013.10.014	journal	January 2014
Effects of microstructure banding on hydrogen assisted fatigue crack growth in X65 pipeline steels Ronevich, Joseph A.; Somerday, Brian P.; San Marchi, Chris W. International Journal of Fatigue, Vol. 82 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2015.09.004	journal	January 2016
A fatigue initiation parameter for gas pipe steel submitted to hydrogen absorption Capelle, J.; Gilgert, J.; Pluvinage, G. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 35, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.10.063	journal	January 2010
Quantifying the hydrogen embrittlement of pipeline steels for safety considerations Briottet, L.; Moro, I.; Lemoine, P. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 37, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2012.05.143	journal	November 2012
Fatigue crack initiation and growth in a CrMo steel under hydrogen pressure Briottet, L.; Moro, I.; Escot, M. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 40, Issue 47 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.05.080	journal	December 2015
Influence of hydrogen pressure on fatigue properties of X80 pipeline steel An, Teng; Peng, Huangtao; Bai, Pengpeng International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 42, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.05.047	journal	June 2017
Assessment of resistance to fatigue crack growth of natural gas line pipe steels carrying gas mixed with hydrogen Dadfarnia, Mohsen; Sofronis, Petros; Brouwer, Jack International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 44, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.02.216	journal	April 2019
Hydrogen-assisted fracture resistance of pipeline welds in gaseous hydrogen Ronevich, Joseph A.; Song, Eun Ju; Somerday, Brian P. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 46, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.11.239	journal	February 2021
Stress response and microstructural evolution of nickel-based superalloys during low cycle fatigue: Physics-based modelling of cyclic hardening and softening León-Cázares, F. D.; Monni, F.; Jackson, T. International Journal of Plasticity, Vol. 128 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijplas.2020.102682	journal	May 2020
A statistical, physical-based, micro-mechanical model of hydrogen-induced intergranular fracture in steel Novak, P.; Yuan, R.; Somerday, B. P. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Vol. 58, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2009.10.005	journal	February 2010
An energy-based microstructure model to account for fatigue scatter in polycrystals Sangid, Michael D.; Maier, Hans J.; Sehitoglu, Huseyin Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Vol. 59, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2010.12.014	journal	March 2011
Influence of hydrogen environment on fatigue fracture morphology of X80 pipeline steel Zhuo, Jingxuan; Zhang, Chao; Zhang, Shuai Journal of Materials Research and Technology, Vol. 22 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2022.12.004	journal	January 2023
Hydrogen in pipeline steels: Recent advances in characterization and embrittlement mitigation Li, Hanyu; Niu, Ranming; Li, Wei Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, Vol. 105 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2022.104709	journal	September 2022
Investigation of hydrogen embrittlement behavior in X65 pipeline steel under different hydrogen charging conditions Wang, D.; Hagen, A. B.; Fathi, P. U. Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 860 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2022.144262	journal	December 2022
Tracking hydrogen embrittlement using short fatigue crack behavior of metals Singh, Vishal; Singh, Rajwinder; Singh, Amanjot Procedia Structural Integrity, Vol. 13 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prostr.2018.12.296	journal	January 2018
Hydrogen Embrittlement Assessment of Pipeline Materials Through Slow Strain Rate Tensile Testing Myhre, Aleksander Omholt; Hagen, Anette Brocks; Nyhus, Bård Procedia Structural Integrity, Vol. 42 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prostr.2022.12.118	journal	January 2022
Power-to-Gas: Electrolysis and methanation status review Thema, M.; Bauer, F.; Sterner, M. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 112 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.06.030	journal	September 2019
Probabilistic fatigue initiation assessment diagram pipe steel ×52: influence of hydrogen Jallouf, S.; Capelle, J.; Pluvinage, G. Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures, Vol. 40, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.12636	journal	June 2017
Development of a Model for Hydrogen-Assisted Fatigue Crack Growth of Pipeline Steel1 Amaro, Robert L.; White, Ryan M.; Looney, Chris P. Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology, Vol. 140, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4038824	journal	February 2018
Effect of Hydrogen Partial Pressure on Fatigue Crack Growth Rates of Low Alloy, Quenched and Tempered Steels Bortot, Paolo; Ortolani, Matteo; San Marchi, Christopher Volume 5: Materials & Fabrication https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2023-106417	conference	July 2023
Crack Initiation and Propagation Behavior of Hydrogen-induced Quasi-cleavage Fracture in X80 Pipeline Steel with Stress Concentration Homma, Tomoka; Anata, Seiya; Onuki, Shoma ISIJ International, Vol. 61, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.2355/isijinternational.ISIJINT-2021-228	journal	October 2021
Investigation of Hydrogen Embrittlement Susceptibility and Fracture Toughness Drop after in situ Hydrogen Cathodic Charging for an X65 Pipeline Steel Kyriakopoulou, Helen; Karmiris-Obratański, Panagiotis; Tazedakis, Athanasios Micromachines, Vol. 11, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11040430	journal	April 2020
Effects of Sulfur Level and Anisotropy of Sulfide Inclusions on Tensile, Impact, and Fatigue Properties of SAE 4140 Steel Cyril, Nisha; Fatemi, Ali; Cryderman, Bob SAE International Journal of Materials and Manufacturing, Vol. 1, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.4271/2008-01-0434	journal	April 2008
A review of fatigue crack growth for pipeline steels exposed to hydrogen Nanninga, N.; Slifka, A.; Levy, Y. Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Vol. 115, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.6028/jres.115.030	journal	November 2010

Similar Records

Hydrogen accelerated fatigue crack growth of friction stir welded X52 steel pipe

Journal Article · Wed Nov 16 19:00:00 EST 2016 · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy · OSTI ID:1333901

Effects of temperature on fatigue crack growth of a 508-2 steel in LWR environment

Technical Report · Thu Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1983 · OSTI ID:6272176

Fatigue crack growth of part-through cracks in pressure vessel and piping steels: Air environment results

Technical Report · Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · OSTI ID:6660531

Related Subjects

Circumferential notch tension
Compact tension
Crack growth rate
Crack initiation
Hydrogen embrittlement
Pipeline steel

Effects of hydrogen partial pressure on crack initiation and growth rate in vintage X52 steel

Citation Formats

References (35)

Similar Records

Related Subjects