C2024-20813 Development Of A Master Curve To Characterize The Susceptibility Of Fastener Materials To Hydrogen Embrittlement

Herman Amaya, Ted Anderson, Behrang Fahimi - This paper presents a new approach to avoiding hydrogen embrittlement while ensuring that subsea components have adequate strength and corrosion resistance. Hydrogen embrittlement is a multivariate problem that requires a multivariate solution. By considering the fundamental mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement, it is possible to incorporate the key variables into a single driving force parameter. This has resulted in a master curve where all hydrogen-driven crack growth data are collapsed onto a single trend. Such master curve enables designers to optimize key parameters like alloy strength and cathodic protection potential for specific applications.Hydrogen-assisted cracking, which can be characterized by a threshold stress intensity factor ( ) or a crack growth rate ( for ), is fundamentally driven by the concentration of atomic hydrogen in the fracture process zone. Increasing the yield strength results in greater susceptibility to h