Micromechanics of Hydrogen-Induced Crack Initiation in Pipeline Steels and Subcritical Crack Growth

To further explore the influence of hydrogen on ductile fracture, we model sustained-load cracking in the iron-base superalloy 1N903 at hydrogen pressures at which fracture is governed by plasticity. Through a micromechanics analysis, we quantify the void growth dependence on stress triaxiality and hydrogen-induced material softening as a function of position ahead of a crack tip. Correlation of the calculated void diameters with experimentally measured ones leads to the identification of a microstructural length that characterizes the onset of hydrogen-induced cracking. Lastly, to analyze the mechanics of sustained-load cracking at pressures greater than 100 MPa for which experiments suggest that hydrogen promotes failure by intergranular cracking, we simulate crack propagation by cohesive finite element methodology based on hydrogen-induced decohesion thermodynamics. The results reveal a number of issues related to the complexity of the failure mechanism and the robustness of the cohesive element approach.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Dadfarnia, Mohsen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sofronis, Petros

• Engineering, Metallurgy

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3362764

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/83926