Hydrogen Embrittlement in High Strength Steel Wires

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The purpose of this report is to understand the failure of high strength steel wires due to the environment in which they are exposed to, this report will primarily be focusing high strength steel wires that are used in suspension bridge cables. Due to the environment that the bridge cables are exposed to their lifetime expectancy depends on the corrosion it undergoes. There are various types of corrosions that can occur such as pitting corrosion, stress corrosion and corrosion-induced cracking which it makes it all the more complex to understand corrosion of high strength steel wires(1). Due to the vast number of failures that can occur due to the environment this paper primarily focuses on hydrogen embrittlement. Hydrogen embrittlement occurs when steel is exposed to hydrogen causing it to become brittle and crack.
Hydrogen reduces load – bearing capability and reduction of ductility, there are several hydrogen sources, it can enter the material as a result of electroplating, and the main source of hydrogen in steel bridge cable wires is hydrogen gas in the atmosphere. Molecular hydrogen is dissociated, which produces atomic hydrogen that then diffuses internally and embrittle’s the metal. Hydrogen diffuses rapidly through the lattice due to its small size this is because hydrogen in the lattice exists as a monoatomic form. Dissolved hydrogen can travel along by moving dislocation in response to applied stress. On a macroscopic scale hydrogen produces a decrease in the prevalence of ductile process in comparison to fracture without hydrogen due to a decrease in stress intensity (2). Cracks grown in hydrogen embrittlement are mostly along slip planes which can be seen as striations. Hydrogen tends to accumulate in lattice, gra...

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