Just another WordPress site - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Abstract

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) is a phenomenon where hydrogen negatively impacts the mechanical properties of metallic materials. Mitigating HE requires minimizing hydrogen diffusion in microstructures and understanding how local heterogeneities influence this process across different length scales. While advanced experimental and computational methods exist, their application to varying systems complicates model validation. To address this, simplified ferritic Fe-based alloys were produced, and subjected to thermomechanical treatments, and their microstructures were characterized using EBSD. This approach aims to assess the hydrogen storage capacities of microstructural heterogeneities and their influence on the effective diffusion coefficient. Complementary ab initio density functional theory calculations were performed to evaluate hydrogen trapping energies and diffusion barriers under different chemical environments and CSL boundaries. These calculations inform predictions of hydrogen solubility and distribution within the experimental microstructures, to be validated experimen- tally. This work shows the importance of combining simulations and experiments to understand microstructural heterogeneities’ role in HE.