Hydrogen in weld joints - An underestimated risk? - Utilization potential of gas analytics versus safety of welded components

Hydrogen was once called “the versatile embrittler” [1], which summarizes very well the effect on reduction of ductility and/or toughness in technical alloys like steel. In that connection, welding is one of the most important component fabrication technologies. During welding, hydrogen can be transferred to the weld pool from manifold sources (like contaminations, residuals at the surface, etc.). As hydrogen embrittles a material, the safety of welded components with hydrogen is always a critical issue. Weld heat input causes additional changes in the microstructure like grain growth or partial dissolution of precipitates and many more. All these things influence the mechanical properties and also represent hydrogen traps. These traps decrease the hydrogen diffusion compared to the ideal lattice. The result can be so-called delayed hydrogen assisted cracking (HAC) of the weld joint due to the significantly decreased diffusivity by trapped hydrogen. This is often an underestimated risk as those cracks can appear in the weld joint even after some days! It is essential to know about hydrogen ingress during welding and the microstructure specific hydrogen diffusion. Both are depended on weld parameter influence and the chemical composition of the base material and weld metal. For that purpose, gas analytic methods like solid-state carrier gas hot extraction (CGHE) are useful tools to: (1) identify detrimental hydrogen concentrations from weld joints, (2) binding energies from hydrogen traps by thermal desorption analysis or (3) high-temperature diffusion coefficients. Those values are extremely important for welding practice in terms of recommendations on realistic hydrogen removal heat treatment (HRHT) after welding. Considering the increasing use of “digital” experiments, the data is also needed for reliable numerical simulations of HAC process or HRHT-effectiveness. The present contribution gives an overview on the influence of hydrogen on weld joints, the necessity, methods and standards for hydrogen determination (CGHE) with the aim of fabrication of safe welded and crack-free components. [1] R. A. Oriani (1987), Corrosion 43(7):390-397. doi: 10.5006/1.3583875