The purpose of this paper is to find a new method to evaluate the hydrogen embrittlement performance of heterogeneous materials and thin film materials.
The changes of hydrogen embrittlement properties of steel were studied by electrochemical hydrogen charging test and scratch test. The microstructure and properties of the alloy were analyzed by hardness tester, scanning electron microscope and three-dimensional morphology. The fracture toughness before and after hydrogen charging was calculated based on the scratch method.
The results showed that the hydrogen-induced hardening phenomenon occurs in the material after hydrogen charging. The scratch depth and width increased after hydrogen charging. The fracture toughness obtained by the scratch method showed that hydrogen reduces the fracture toughness of the material. The comparison error of fracture toughness calculated by indentation method was less than 5%.
The results show that the scratch method can evaluate the hydrogen embrittlement performance of the material. This method provides a possibility to evaluate the hydrogen embrittlement of thin-film and heterogeneous materials.
