Journal Article

PUBDB-2025-03916

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png The dual role of boron on hydrogen embrittlement: example of interface-related hydrogen effects in an austenite-ferrite two-phase lightweight steel

Dong, X.Extern* ; Wei, S. ; Tehranchi, A. ; Saksena, A.Extern* ; Ponge, D.Extern* ; Sun, B. (Corresponding author)Extern* ; Raabe, D. (Corresponding author)Extern*

2025
Elsevier Science Amsterdam [u.a.]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2025.121458  doi:10.3204/PUBDB-2025-03916

Abstract: Fe-Mn-Al-C steels are of interest because of their low weight and the wide tunability of their strength-ductility combinations. Despite their high mechanical strength, these advanced steels, particularly when equipped with a multiphase microstructure, are often prone to hydrogen embrittlement (HE), a phenomenon characterized by the abrupt loss of the materials’ load-bearing capacity resulting from H ingress. This motivates us to develop strategies to make these alloys HE resistant. Here, we investigate and quantify the influence of interfacial B segregation on the HE resistance in a typical high-Mn, high-Al lightweight steel with a two-phase austenite-ferrite microstructure. Unlike the commonly reported beneficial role of B segregation in suppressing H-induced damage in single-phase alloys, we reveal that B segregation in the studied steel can lead to both detrimental and beneficial effects. On the one hand, it suppresses H-induced cracking along austenite-ferrite phase boundaries, primarily due to segregation-mediated interface strengthening. On the other hand, B segregation appears to promote H diffusion, increasing H contamination across wider microstructure regions and facilitating HE by H-induced cleavage fracture within ferrite—an alternative damage mode to interface cracking. The ingress and penetration of microstructures by H are closely connected with the kinetics and trapping features of H transport along grain boundaries (GBs, γ/γ and α/α) and phase boundaries (α/γ). We observe that interfacial H diffusion can be enhanced in B-doped steels, due to the repulsion and competition between segregated B and H atoms, as exemplified by ab initio calculations. The interplay between these two effects, resulting from interfacial B segregation, leads to an overall diminished HE resistance in the studied material compared to its B-free counterpart. These findings underscore the mechanistic complexity of B segregation in influencing HE resistance in multiphase steels, highlighting its dual role that must be accounted for in the development of future H-tolerant alloys.

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. DOOR-User (DOOR ; HAS-User)

Research Program(s):

1. 6G3 - PETRA III (DESY) (POF4-6G3) (POF4-6G3)
2. FS-Proposal: I-20240761 (I-20240761) (I-20240761)
3. FS-Proposal: I-20240759 (I-20240759) (I-20240759)
4. FS-Proposal: I-20231121 (I-20231121) (I-20231121)

Experiment(s):

1. PETRA Beamline P02.1 (PETRA III)
2. PETRA Beamline P21.1 (PETRA III)

Appears in the scientific report 2025

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Database coverage:
; ; ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Engineering, Computing and Technology ; Current Contents - Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences ; Ebsco Academic Search ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 5 ; JCR ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection

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