Effect of hydrogen on fracture locus of Fe-16Mn-0.6C-2.15Al TWIP steel

Abstract

Effect of hydrogen on the mechanical response and fracture locus of commercial TWIP steel was investigated comprehensively by tensile testing TWIP steel samples at room temperature and quasi-static regime. 5 different sample geometries were utilized to ensure different specific stress states and a digital image correlation (DIC) system was used during tensile tests. Electrochemical charging method was utilized for hydrogen charging and microstructural characterizations were carried out by scanning electron microscope. Stress triaxiality factors were calculated throughout the plastic deformation via finite element analysis (FEA) based simulations and average values were calculated at the most critical node. A specific Python script was developed to determine the equivalent fracture strain. Based on the experimental and numerical results, the relation between the equivalent fracture strain and stress triaxiality was determined and the effect of hydrogen on the corresponding fracture locus was quantified. The deterioration in the mechanical response due to hydrogen was observed regardless of the sample geometry and hydrogen changed the fracture mode from ductile to brittle. Moreover, hydrogen affected the fracture locus of TWIP steel by lowering the equivalent failure strains at given stress triaxiality levels. In this study, a modified Johnson-Cook failure mode was proposed and effect of hydrogen on damage constants were quantified. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.