Analysis of the Hydrogen Induced Cracking by Means of the Small Punch Test: Effect of the Specimen Geometry and the Hydrogen Pre-Charge Mode

This paper presents a simplified procedure to analyse the Hydrogen Induced Cracking (HIC) of structural steels by means of the Small Punch Test (SPT). Two types of notched specimens were used: one with through-thickness lateral notch and another with surface longitudinal notch. The results for conventional specimens were compared with those for hydrogen pre-charged specimens. For this purpose, two different methods to introduce hydrogen in the specimens were used: cathodic/electrochemical pre-charging and pressurized gaseous hydrogen pre-charging. The results obtained with both methods are also discussed.