Changes in mechanical properties following cyclic prestressing of martensitic steel containing vanadium carbide in presence of nondiffusible hydrogen

Changes in the states of nondiffusible hydrogen and mechanical properties after cyclic prestressing in the presence of only nondiffusible hydrogen were examined for martensitic steel containing vanadium carbide. The relationship between the change in the state of nondiffusible hydrogen and mechanical properties was also investigated. The hydrogen desorption profile in the high-temperature range decreased and that in the low-temperature range increased with increasing stress amplitude during cyclic prestressing in the presence of only nondiffusible hydrogen. Thus, the application of cyclic prestressing changed the state of hydrogen from a stable to an unstable one because of vacancies and their clusters. Hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility after cyclic prestressing increased with increasing stress amplitude and number of prestressing cycles in the presence of only nondiffusible hydrogen. This relationship indicates that hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility increased with the increasing amount of hydrogen detrapped from trap sites of nondiffusible hydrogen during cyclic prestressing. These results revealed that nondiffusible hydrogen easily detrapped from vanadium carbide due to the application of cyclic prestress and probably interacted with vacancies and their clusters, thus increasing hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility. The change of nondiffusible hydrogen to diffusible hydrogen and accumulation of vacancies and their clusters during cyclic prestressing are concluded to be the dominant factors in hydrogen embrittlement after the application of cyclic prestress.