Potential Effects of Short-Range Order on Hydrogen Embrittlement of Stable Austenitic Steels—A Review

Abstract

Here, we present a review of the hydrogen embrittlement behavior of face-centered cubic (FCC) alloys with short-range order (SRO) of solute atoms. In this paper, three types of FCC alloys are introduced: Fe–Mn–C austenitic steels, high-nitrogen steels, and CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloys. The Fe–Mn–C austenitic steels show dynamic strain aging associated with Mn–C SRO, which causes deformation localization and acceleration of premature fracture even without hydrogen effects. The disadvantageous effect of dynamic strain aging on ductility, which is associated with the deformation localization, amplify plasticity-assisted hydrogen embrittlement. Cr–N and Co–Cr–Ni SRO effects in high-nitrogen austenitic steels and high-entropy alloys enhance the dislocation planarity, which causes stress concentration in the grain interior and near the grain boundaries. The stress concentration coupled with hydrogen effects causes quasi-cleavage and intergranular fractures. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.