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Why do steels with high carbon content break easily? Part 1

2022-06-24

 Bars with high carbon content have broken many times, such as shafts made of 45# steel, which will break after a short time of use. Taking samples from the fractured parts and conducting metallographic analysis, it is often impossible to find the cause, even if it is far-fetched to find some reasons, it is not the actual reason.

To ensure higher strength, carbon must also be added to the steel, with which iron carbides precipitate. From an electrochemical point of view, iron carbide acts as a cathode, accelerating the anodic dissolution reaction around the substrate. The increase in the volume fraction of iron carbides within the microstructure is also attributed to the low hydrogen overvoltage properties of the carbides.
The surface of the steel is easy to generate and absorb hydrogen. When the hydrogen atoms infiltrate into the steel, the volume fraction of hydrogen may increase, and finally the resistance to hydrogen embrittlement of the material is significantly reduced.
 
The significant reduction in corrosion resistance and hydrogen embrittlement resistance of high-strength steels not only harms the properties of the steel, but also greatly limits the application of the steel.
 
For example, when automobile steel is exposed to various corrosive environments such as chloride, under the action of stress, the phenomenon of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) that may occur will pose a serious threat to the safety of the car body.
The higher the carbon content, the lower the hydrogen diffusion coefficient and the higher the hydrogen solubility. Scholar Chan once proposed that various lattice defects such as precipitates (as trap sites for hydrogen atoms), potential, and pores are proportional to the carbon content. The increase of carbon content will inhibit hydrogen diffusion, so the hydrogen diffusion coefficient is also low. 
 
Since the carbon content is proportional to the hydrogen solubility, the greater the volume fraction of carbides as hydrogen atom traps, the smaller the hydrogen diffusion coefficient inside the steel, the greater the hydrogen solubility, and the hydrogen solubility also contains information about diffusible hydrogen, so Hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility is the highest. With the increase of carbon content, the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen atoms decreases and the surface hydrogen concentration increases, which is caused by the decrease of hydrogen overvoltage on the steel surface.