Influence of hydrogen on plasticity around the crack tip in high strength steels

Fracture mechanics concepts applied to tests in aggressive environments are a challenge for integrity analysis. Specifically about hydrogen, the concentration of this element in defects or in trapping sites can cause unexpected failure. The present paper presents results showing the influence of hydrogen in the reduction of fracture toughness and a discussion about how to deal with it in high strength alloys. The results show that the hydrogen reduces the plasticity and consequently the applications of CTOD concepts are questionable for the studied materials.