A Pore Response Function Method for Quantitative Evaluation of Hydrogen Attack in Steels

Abstract

In a former report, the authors introduced a stochastic theory of propagation of elastic waves in porous media, and proposed a pore reponse function method for nondestructive pore characterization. This study was carried out to examine the applicability of this method to quantitative detection of a hydrogen attack in steels. Preparing some samples of high-carbon steel with different hydrogen exposure times, the effect of the texture damage on elastic waves was investigated. After clarifying the propagation mechanism of ultrasound in hydrogen-attacked steel, we presented a nondestructive technique with a pore response function method for evaluating both the size and area fraction of microcracks produced by the hydrogen attack.