Hydrogen embrittlement risk in cold-drawn stainless steels

Experimental results confirmed the higher HE resistance of HSSS compared to carbon prestressing steel. The cold drawing process promotes austenite-martensite transformation on some austenitic SS which has showed higher susceptibility for HE process to occur. The presence of defects on the HSSS wire surface, such as ribs, also contributes to reduce the resistance of these austenitic HSSS to hydrogen embrittlement. However, duplex HSSS have not shown sensitivity to HE in FIP test.