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Improved Resistance to Hydrogen-Induced Cracking by Tempering of Intercritically Rolled Accelerated Cooled X65 Steel

Published

Author(s)

Mary Kathleen O'Brien, Enrico Lucon, Donald Williamson, Kip Findley

Abstract

Hydrogen-induced cracking (HIC) occurs in pipeline steels used in oil and gas applications that are rich in hydrogen sulfide gas also known as sour-service environments. In this study, an experimental X65 steel was produced by intercritically finish rolling, accelerated cooling, then air-cooling to room temperature, which resulted in a mixture of quasi-polygonal ferrite and martensite/austenite (M/A) microconstituents in the as-received (AR) condition. Sections from the steel were also tempered at 300 C, 400 C, 500 C, and 600 C for 40 minutes, which resulted in a significant increase in HIC resistance and impact toughness, along with a marginal increase in yield strength and maintenance of AR hardness. The evolution of HIC resistance, tensile properties, and impact toughness is discussed in the context of phase fraction, dislocation density, and microstructural evolution. The current work demonstrates the potential for tempering after thermo-mechanical processing to reduce HIC susceptibility and increase impact toughness while nominally maintaining yield strength and hardness in microalloyed pipeline steels.
Citation
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A-Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science

Citation

O'Brien, M. , Lucon, E. , Williamson, D. and Findley, K. (2023), Improved Resistance to Hydrogen-Induced Cracking by Tempering of Intercritically Rolled Accelerated Cooled X65 Steel, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A-Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science, [online], https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-023-06975-4, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=935055 (Accessed March 28, 2024)
Created March 1, 2023, Updated March 3, 2023