2019 Volume 59 Issue 5 Pages 927-934
Micro-tensile behaviour and the corresponding microstructural evolution under hydrogen pre-charging conditions were examined on single-crystalline and twinned bi-crystalline specimens with the same [111] loading axis to elucidate the hydrogen-induced twin boundary separation in type 304 stainless steel. A hydrogen pre-charge increased the flow stress during tensile testing but decreased the elongation-to-failure in both single-crystalline and twinned specimens. Although the hydrogen-charged single-crystalline specimen exhibited a quasi-cleavage, the presence of a twin boundary induced a premature failure at the twin boundary interface. Flat-facetted features due to the twin boundary separation had linear steps in the three <110> directions, which corresponded to the intersections between the twin plane and the other {111} close-packed planes of austenite. Matching halves of the fracture surface along the three directions perpendicular to the linear steps, i.e. <112> on the (111) twin plane, revealed two sets of concavity–flat surface and a peak-and-valley correspondence. In addition, electron backscatter diffraction analysis of the substructures below the fracture surfaces revealed that martensite variants developed mainly with their habit planes parallel to the most favourably shear-stressed plane in each crystal, and they grew towards the concavities on the fracture surfaces. These findings suggest that the hydrogen-induced twin boundary separation is triggered by cracks generated by the high hydrogen concentration at the twin boundary due to deformation-induced martensitic transformation, and this is followed by coalescence of cracks through hydrogen-enhanced alternating shear on the slip planes situated symmetrically with respect to the twin boundary.
