Simulation of Hydrogen Transport and Hydrogen-Induced Damage of High-Strength Steel Concepts

T. Schaffner [1], A. Hartmaier [2]
[1] ThyssenKrupp, Duisburg, Germany
[2] Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Veröffentlicht in 2016

The prediction of material damage induced by hydrogen transport mechanisms is a major challenge for the development of new steel concepts. Especially the ultra-high strength steel concepts (UHSS), like dual phase and martensitic steels, can exhibit a higher vulnerability to hydrogen induced damage. The main reason for this is the complex microstructure, including a large number of several features. To evaluate the security of possible material applications in respect to the hydrogen context, an innovative combination of physically motivated simulations and representative experiments has been realized.

Initially, experiments such as permeation measurements and slow strain rate tests (SSRT) have been performed for UHSS grades to generate fundamental material parameters. In particular the effective diffusion constants, the initial hydrogen contents and the material based flow properties were determined. Based on these parameters finite element (FE) simulations of 3D structural mechanic models by COMSOL Multiphysics® software were used to examine the hydrogen-repositioning induced by different global loads and hydrogen charging conditions.