I. M. Lichtenauer, F. Domke, H. Domke
March 1, 2019
Abstract
This work will present 3 typical cases of material failure with “hydrogen as the root cause of failure” which have been investigated in our SEM laboratory over the past few years: hydrogen embrittlement in spring-type straight pins, hydrogen-induced cracking in a weld and delayed cracking of a galvanized screw during a preloading test. These cases are typical for several reasons. On the one hand, the issue of “hydrogen-induced cracking” has been a regular occurrence in our laboratory for many years. On the other hand, the parameters of the examinations are always similar: In most cases, the influence of hydrogen is already suspected. This suspicion is then to be confirmed or refuted by SEM examinations of the fracture surfaces. Complex additional examinations, e. g. metallographic microstructure analysis, are generally not desired by clients due to cost concerns. In addition, our clients usually share very little information about the history of a component. With this in mind, the following examples are to be understood as a basic summary of the key results.