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The influence of microstructure and composition on permeation of hydrogen in 1.2 and 0.5 wt.% Mn X70 pipeline steels after different processing was investigated using an electrochemical permeation technique. For 1.2 wt.% Mn (standard Mn) steel, the microstructure of normalised transfer bar was coarse equiaxed ferrite grains. This sample exhibited the highest diffusivity, followed by transfer bar, with a mixed ferriteebainitic ferrite microstructure; and hot rolled strip, with fine elongated ferrite grains. The 0.5 wt.% Mn (medium Mn) strip displayed lower diffusivity than the 1.2 wt.% Mn strip, due to hydrogen trapping by finer ferrite grains and a higher density of carbonitride precipitates. Moreover, the medium Mn strip exhibited a uniform microstructure and consequently similar diffusion coefficients for the edge and centreline regions, whereas the finer grains of the edge region of the standard Mn strip resulted in a lower diffusivity than the centreline region. Copyright © 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. AbstractThe influence of microstructure and composition on permeation of hydrogen in 1.2 and 0.5 wt.% Mn X70 pipeline steels after different processing was investigated using an electrochemical permeation technique. For 1.2 wt.% Mn (standard Mn) steel, the microstructure of normalised transfer bar was coarse equiaxed ferrite grains. This sample exhibited the highest diffusivity, followed by transfer bar, with a mixed ferrite -bainitic ferrite microstructure; and hot rolled strip, with fine elongated ferrite grains.The 0.5 wt.% Mn (medium Mn) strip displayed lower diffusivity than the 1.2 wt.% Mn strip, due to hydrogen trapping by finer ferrite grains and a higher density of carbonitride precipitates.Moreover, the medium Mn strip exhibited a uniform microstructure and consequently similar diffusion coefficients for the edge and centreline regions, whereas the finer grains of the edge region of the standard Mn strip resulted in a lower diffusivity than the centreline region.

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The influence of composition and microstructure on susceptibility to hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) was investigated in high strength pipeline steels, with Mn contents of 1.2% (standard, X70), and 0.5% (medium, MX70). The HIC resistance of the simulated coarse grained heat affected zone microstructures and normalized X70 transfer bar was also investigated. Notched and fatigue pre-cracked samples were charged with hydrogen prior to three point bend tests. The conditional fracture toughness JQ was determined. The results are discussed in relation to grain size, microstructure, composition and the type and distribution of non-metallic inclusions and precipitates. Published as "Effect of manganese content and microstructure on the susceptibility of X70 pipeline steel to hydrogen cracking" AbstractHydrogen, even in very low concentrations, can diffuse to regions of high stress concentration resulting in a degradation of mechanical properties. However, the transport of hydrogen depends on the interaction between hydrogen atoms and microstructural traps which, in turn, is related to microstructure. The influence of composition and microstructure on susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement was investigated by selecting pipeline steels with different Mn contents, i.e., standard Mn (X70) and medium Mn (MX70) strips. The HAZ (heat affected zone) microstructures of these strips as well as a normlised transfer bar (TB) were also investigated. HAZ simulations were conducted using Gleeble thermo-mechanical machine to simulate a thermal cycle typical of inservice repairs. Notched and fatigue pre-cracked samples were subjected to electrochemical hydrogen charging using a solution of H 2 SO 4 and NaAsO 2 to achieve 2 and 4 ppm hydrogen content. Three point bend tests were conducted on as-received and hydrogen-charged samples. The X70 strip exhibited a higher J Q than the MX70 strip before and after charging, whereas the TB displayed the lowest J Q . The fracture performance of both steels deteriorated almost linearly with an increase in the hydrogen content. Because of their coarser prior austenite grain sizes and the presence of relatively hard bainitic-ferrite structure with martensite/austenite islands, the simulated HAZ microstructures of the two steels demonstrated significantly lower fracture resistance both with and without hydrogen. The results obtained were compared and discussed in relation to the grain size, microstructure, composition and the type and distribution of precipitates in the samples.

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