Hydrogen embrittlement resistance of TWIP (twinning-induced plasticity) steel in high pressure hydrogen environment

Abstract The behavior of as-received and cold-rolled Fe–25Mn–10Ni–0.65C twinning-induced plasticity steel in hydrogen environment was investigated using fatigue crack growth rate tests. The results show that TWIP steel shows weak hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility, which is due to the formation of deformation twins at the crack tip without strain-induced martensite. Hydrogen can promote the formation of deformation twins and may accumulate in the twin beam, which causes fatigue cracks in TWIP steel to propagate along the twin and slip bands in hydrogen environment. Cold rolling can substantially improve the hydrogen embrittlement resistance and fatigue resistance of TWIP steel.