Publications

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Threshold stress intensity factors were measured in high-pressure hydrogen gas for a variety of low alloy ferritic steels using both constant crack opening displacement and rising crack opening displacement procedures. Thresholds for crack extension under rising displacement, K THi, for crack extension under constant displacement, KTHi*, and for crack arrest under constant displacement K THa, were identified. These values were not found to be equivalent, i.e. K THi < K THa < K THi*. The hydrogen assisted fracture mechanism was determined to be strain controlled for all of the alloys in this study, and the micromechanics of strain controlled fracture are used to explain the observed disparities between the different threshold measurements. K THa and K THi differ because the strain singularity of a stationary crack is stronger than that of a propagating crack; K THa must be larger than K THi to achieve equivalent crack tip strain at the same distance from the crack tip. Hydrogen interacts with deformation mechanisms, enhancing strain localization and consequently altering both the nucleation and growth stages of strain controlled fracture mechanisms. The timing of load application and hydrogen exposure, i.e., sequential for constant displacement tests and concurrent for rising displacement tests, leads to differences in the strain history relative to the environmental exposure history and promotes the disparity between K THi* and K THi. K THi is the only conservative measurement of fracture threshold among the methods presented here. © 2012 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International.

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Steel pressure vessels are commonly used for the transport of pressurized gases, including gaseous hydrogen. In the majority of cases, these transport cylinders experience relatively few pressure cycles over their lifetime, perhaps as many as 25 per year, and generally significantly less. For fueling applications, as in fuel tanks on hydrogen-powered industrial trucks, the hydrogen fuel systems may experience thousands of cycles over their lifetime. Similarly, it can be anticipated that the use of tube trailers for large-scale distribution of gaseous hydrogen will require lifetimes of thousands of pressure cycles. This study investigates the fatigue life of steel pressure vessels that are similar to transport cylinders by subjecting full-scale vessels to pressure cycles with gaseous hydrogen between nominal pressure of 3 and 44 MPa. In addition to pressure cycling of vessels that are similar to those in service, engineered defects were machined on the inside of several pressure vessels to simulate manufacturing defects and to initiate failure after relatively low number of cycles. Failure was not observed in as-manufactured vessels with more than 55,000 pressure cycles, nor in vessels with relatively small, engineered defects subjected to more than 40,000 cycles. Large engineered defects (with depth greater than 5% of the wall thickness) resulted in failure after 8,000 to 15,000 pressure cycles. Defects machined to depths less than 5% wall thickness did not induce failures. Four pressure vessel failures were observed during the course of this project and, in all cases, failure occurred by leak before burst. The performance of the tested vessels is compared to two design approaches: fracture mechanics design approach and traditional fatigue analysis design approach. The results from this work have been used as the basis for the design rules for Type 1 fuel tanks in the standard entitled "Compressed Hydrogen-Powered Industrial Truck, On-board Fuel Storage and Handling Components (HPIT1)" from CSA America. Copyright © 2012 by ASME.

As hydrogen fuel cell technologies achieve market penetration, there is a growing need to characterize a range of structural metals that are used in the hydrogen environments that are encountered in gaseous hydrogen fuel systems. A review of existing data show that hydrogen can significantly accelerate fatigue crack growth of many common structural metals; however, comprehensive characterization of the effects of hydrogen on fatigue properties is generally lacking from the literature, even for structural metals that have been used extensively in high-pressure gaseous hydrogen environments. This report provides new testing data on the effects of hydrogen on fatigue of structural metals that are commonly employed in high-pressure gaseous hydrogen. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.

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