The synergistic action and interplay of hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms in steels and iron: Localized plasticity and decohesion

Abstract Component failures due to the hydrogen embrittlement (HE) were observed in different industrial systems, including high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks, aircraft components, high-strength alloy components, and high-strength steel fasteners. The contemporary approach in studying the effects of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of steels and iron at different scales is based on the implementation of various multiscale (macro, micro-meso, and nano-atomic) modeling approaches and the applications of advanced experimental methods. A large number of contemporary studies confirmed the multiple effects and activity of different HE mechanisms in steels and iron. The coexistence and synergistic activity – concurrent action and effects in a cooperative manner of different HE mechanisms, including the hydrogen-enhanced localized plasticity (HELP) and the hydrogen-enhanced decohesion (HEDE), were recently detected and confirmed through computations-simulations, as well as experimentally in different grades of steel. However, the critical evaluation and quantification of synergy between the HELP and HEDE mechanisms, enhanced plasticity and decohesion, hydrogen-deformation/dislocation interactions and their simultaneous effect on the mechanical properties (hardening and softening), still do not exist. In this review paper, the multifaceted nature of the synergistic interplay of HE mechanisms is covered through extensive literature overview regarding the chronological development of ideas related to the HELP + HEDE concept and HELP mediated HEDE model. The particular emphasis is given to the proposal of the novel and unified HELP + HEDE model based on the specific microstructural mapping of the dominant HE mechanisms with implications on the fracture process and resulting hydrogen-assisted fracture modes. Most of up-to-date experimental and modeling approaches, current trends and future challenges in the investigation of the synergistic interplay of HE mechanisms in different grades of steel, including the most advanced, and iron, are also included and critically discussed.