Open AccessInvestigation of moisture-induced embrittlement of iron aluminides. Final report
Author(s) -
D.A. Alven,
N. S. Stoloff
Publication year - 1997
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/629466
Subject(s) - materials science , hydrogen embrittlement , metallurgy , embrittlement , hydrogen , fracture toughness , alloy , paris' law , environmental stress fracture , zirconium , carbon fibers , cracking , inert gas , composite material , fracture mechanics , corrosion , crack closure , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite number
Iron-aluminum alloys with 28 at.% Al and 5 at.% Cr were shown to be susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement by exposure to both gaseous hydrogen and water vapor. This study examined the effect of the addition of zirconium and carbon on the moisture-induced hydrogen embrittlement of an Fe{sub 3}Al,Cr alloy through the evaluation of tensile properties and fatigue crack growth resistance in hydrogen gas and moisture-bearing air. Susceptibility to embrittlement was found to vary with the zirconium content while the carbon addition was found to only affect the fracture toughness. Inherent fatigue crack growth resistance and fracture toughness, as measured in an inert environment, was found to increase with the addition of 0.5 at.% Zr. The combined addition of 0.5 at.% Zr and carbon only increased the fracture toughness. The addition of 1 at.% Zr and carbon was found to have no effect on the crack growth rate when compared to the base alloy. Susceptibility to embrittlement in moisture-bearing environments was found to decrease with the addition of 0.5 at.% Zr. In gaseous hydrogen, the threshold value of the Zr-containing alloys was found to increase above that found in the inert environment while the crack growth resistance was much lower. By varying the frequency of fatigue loading, it was shown that the corrosion fatigue component of the fatigue crack growth rate in an embrittling environment displays a frequency dependence. Hydrogen transport in iron aluminides was shown to occur primarily by a dislocation-assisted transport mechanism. This mechanism, in conjunction with fractography, indicates that the zirconium-containing precipitates act as traps for the hydrogen that is carried along by the dislocations through the lattice