Hydrogen embrittlement in power plant steels

In power plants, several major components such as steam generator tubes, boilers, steam/water pipe lines, water box of condensers and the other auxiliary components like bolts, nuts, screws fasteners and supporting assemblies are commonly fabricated from plain carbon steels, as well as low and high alloy steels. These components often fail catastrophically due to hydrogen embrittlement. A brief overview of our current understanding of the phenomenon of such hydrogen damage in steels is presented in this paper. Case histories of failures of steel components due to hydrogen embrittlement, which are reported in literature, are briefly discussed. A phenomenological assessment of overall process of hydrogen embrittlement and classification of the various damage modes are summarized. Influence of several physical and metallurgical variables on the susceptibility of steels to hydrogen embrittlement, mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement and current approaches to combat this problem are also presented.