Susceptibility to Hydrogen-Induced Cracking of Weld Beads on High-Strength Structural Steel

We study the hydrogen embrittlement and rupture of specimens of high-strength low-alloy steel with weld beads subjected to hydrogenation under the conditions of cathodic polarization. The specimens fail in the heat-affected zone on the boundary between the main metal and the weld bead in the zone of application of the latter and, especially, near its end. This explained by a higher hardness of the metal in this zone caused by the specific features of the temperature field formed in the process of welding. __________ Published in Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 101–104, March–April, 2005.