Understanding the micromechanisms of hydrogen-assisted fracture in multiphase metals is of great scientific and engineering importance. By using a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM), the micromorphology of fracture surface and microcrack formation in hydrogen-precharged super duplex stainless steel 2507 are characterized from microscale to nanoscale. The results reveal that the fracture surfaces consist of quasi-brittle facets with riverlike patterns at the microscale, which exhibit rough irregular patterns or remarkable quasi-periodic corrugation patterns at the nanoscale that can be correlated with highly localized plastic deformation. The microcracks preferentially initiate and propagate in ferrite phase and are stopped or deflected by the boundaries of the austenite phase. The hydrogen-assisted cracking mechanisms in super duplex stainless steel are discussed according to the experimental results and hydrogen-enhanced localized plasticity theory.

Volume Subject Area:
Materials and Fabrication
Topics:
Fracture (Process), Hydrogen, Micromechanical devices, Scanning probe microscopy, Stainless steel, Atomic force microscopy, Microcracks, Microscale devices, Nanoscale phenomena, Brittleness, Deformation, Ferrites (Magnetic materials), Magnetic fields, Metals, Microscopy, Plasticity, Scanning electron microscopy, Scanning tunneling microscopy, Surface roughness
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