Interpreting hydrogen-induced fracture surfaces in terms of deformation processes: A new approach

Observations of fracture surfaces and deformation beneath fracture surfaces produced by hydrogen-assisted cracking in pipelines steels, which were published in a recent paper (M.L. Martin, I.M. Robertson, and P. Sofronis, Acta Materialia, 59 (2011) 3680–3687), are discussed, and it is argued that the conclusions made regarding mechanisms of fracture are not justified.