Hydrogen-Trapping Mechanisms in Nanostructured Steels

Nanoprecipitation-hardened martensitic bearing steels (100Cr6) and carbide-free nanobainitic steels (superbainite) are examined. The nature of the hydrogen traps present in both is determined via the melt extraction and thermal desorption analysis techniques. It is demonstrated that 100Cr6 can admit large amounts of hydrogen, which is loosely bound to dislocations around room temperature; however, with the precipitation of fine coherent vanadium carbide traps, hydrogen can be immobilized. In the case of carbide-free nanostructured bainite, retained austenite/bainite interfaces act as hydrogen traps, while concomitantly retained austenite limits hydrogen absorption. In nanostructured steels where active hydrogen traps are present, it is shown that the total hydrogen absorbed is proportional to the trapped hydrogen, indicating that melt extraction may be employed to quantify trapping capacity.