Enabling Hydrogen EmbrittlementModeling of Structural Steels
Brian SomerdaySandia National Laboratories
June 11, 2008
Project ID # PDP11This presentation does not contain any proprietary, confidential, or otherwise restricted information
Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000
Overview
• Project start date Jan. 2007• Project end date Sept. 2015• Percent complete 15%
• Barriers addressed– High Capital Cost and
Hydrogen Embrittlement of Pipelines
– Storage Tank Materials and Costs
• Total project funding (through FY08)– DOE share: $384K
• FY07 Funding: $184K• FY08 Funding: $200K
Budget
• DOE Pipeline Working Group– Sandia National Lab– Oak Ridge National Lab– Savannah River National Lab– CTC– NIST– Industrial gas companies– ASME
Partners
Timeline Barriers & Targets
Objectives
• Enable application of structural integrity models to steel hydrogen pipelines– Models can demonstrate that hydrogen embrittlement can be
accommodated and pipeline safety margins can be quantified
• Enable development of micromechanics models of hydrogen embrittlement in pipeline steels– Micromechanics models are essential for understanding the
fundamentals of hydrogen transport and embrittlement in steels
• Measure cracking kinetics and thresholds of X100 steel under static loading in hydrogen gas pressures from 7 to 140 MPa (FY08 Q1; complete)
• Measure fatigue crack propagation rates of X100 steel in hydrogen gas over the pressure range 7 to 140 MPa (FY08 Q3; in progress)
Milestones
Approach
• Measure properties of pipeline steels in high-pressure H2 gas using fracture mechanics methods– Thresholds for sustained-load cracking– Fatigue crack growth rates under cyclic loading
• Assess suitability of steels by using measured properties as inputs into structural integrity models– Materials are qualified for service if pipeline meets performance
critieria, e.g., number of allowable pressure cycles
• Identify and measure fundamental parameters in mechanistic models of hydrogen embrittlement
Materials testing motivated by design method
• Article KD-10 in ASME BPV Code Section VIII, Div. 3– Applies to H2 pressure vessels and pipelines– Design method identifies two H2-assisted failure modes:
fatigue crack growth and sustained-load cracking• Requires materials data in high-pressure hydrogen gas for
fracture mechanics-based structural integrity models
p
Ri
Ro
at
a/ac
1.0
N/Nc
1.0
0.25
0.5
cycles tocritical crack depth
critical crack depth for crack extensionunder sustained or rising load, ac
0.5 x cyclesto critical crack depth
cycles for0.25 x critical crack depth
Testing of X100 line pipe steel
• Yield strength– 96 ksi (662 MPa) in longitudinal (L) orientation– 114 ksi (787 MPa) in circumferential (C) orientation
L
C
Measurement of sustained-load cracking thresholds
• Specimen loaded to Ko>KTH using bolt while contained in glove box (Ar with ~1 ppm O2)
• Loaded specimen exposed to H2, crack extends after incubation time
• Crack arrests at K=KTH
Load
(P)
Time in H2
Po ∝ Ko
Loading bolt
Load cell
strain gage leads (Excitation and DAQ)
13 mm
PTH ∝ KTH
incubation time=f(environment, Ko)
wedge opening load (WOL)cracking threshold specimen
Results show hydrogen embrittlement in X100 steel
X100 (100 MPa H2 gas)
X100 (air)
H2 gas pressure (kpsi)0 5 10 15 20 25
Stre
ss in
tens
ity fa
ctor
, K (
ksi⋅ i
n1/2 )
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
H2 gas pressure (MPa)0 25 50 75 100 125 150
Stre
ss in
tens
ity fa
ctor
, K (
MP
a⋅m
1/2 )
0
50
100
150
200
250
300KJIc
KTH
X100 SteelWOL specimensC-L orientation25 oC
Measured properties assessed from structural integrity model
• Calculate critical crack depth, ac, for X100 hydrogen pipeline operating at p = 21 MPa pressure– assume axial flaw with infinite length– hoop stress σh = 260 MPa (37% SMYS)– measured KTH = 85 MPa-m1/2 in 21 MPa H2 gas– ac = 0.6 cm (ac/t = 0.45)
p
Ri
Ro=16.3 cm
a
t=1.3 cm a/ac
1.0
N/Nc1.0
cycles tocritical crack depth
critical crack depth for crack extensionunder sustained load, ac
Model shows that pipeline can safely tolerate deep flaw
Incubation time for crack extension depends on Ko and H2 pressure
Procedures for measuring sustained-load cracking thresholds should not prescribe arbitrary test durations
H2 gas pressure (kpsi)0 3 6 9 12 15 18
Incu
batio
n tim
e (h
r)
0
10
20
1400
1600
1800
2000
H2 gas pressure (MPa)0 25 50 75 100
cracking in H2
X100 SteelWOL specimensKo=160 MPa-m1/2
25 oC
Initial stress intensity factor, Ko (ksi⋅in1/2)0 30 60 90 120 150
Incu
batio
n tim
e (h
r)
0
100
200
3600
3800
4000
Initial stress intensity factor, Ko (MPa⋅m1/2)0 30 60 90 120 150
cracking in H2
no cracking in H2
X100 SteelWOL specimens100 MPa H2 gas25 oC
KTH
Crack branching may account for absence of crack extension at low Ko
Initial stress intensity factor, Ko (ksi⋅in1/2)0 30 60 90 120 150
Incu
batio
n tim
e (h
r)
0
100
200
300
3600
3700
3800
3900
4000
Initial stress intensity factor, Ko (MPa⋅m1/2)0 30 60 90 120 150
cracking in H2
no cracking in H2
X100 SteelWOL specimens100 MPa H2 gas25 oC
KTH
SA 372 Gr. J (100 MPa H2)
precrackcrack branch
Issues that compromise measurement of conservative properties must be identified
X100 (100 MPa H2)
precrack
crack branch10 μm
Microscopy evidence provides insight into hydrogen embrittlementX100 in 100 MPa H2 gas:
crack profile
X100 in 21 MPa H2 gas:fracture surface
• Initial evidence suggests transgranular microcracksform in ferrite with limited plasticity– Results provide information for development of
micromechanics models
System for measuring fatigue crack growth rates in H2 gas
• Pressure vessel designed to contain H2 gas up to 20 kpsi (138 MPa)
• Challenges in testing and system design– leak rates at dynamic seals– accurate load measurement– effect of high-pressure H2 gas on
instrumentation• Fatigue crack growth data serve as
inputs to structural integrity models
vessel on mechanical test frame
Future Work
Remainder of FY08• Determine solution for leaks at sliding seals in system for
measuring fatigue crack growth rates in hydrogen gas• Measure fatigue crack growth rates of X100 in hydrogen gas
FY09• Emphasize testing of low-strength steels such as X42 and X52
− Includes base metal and welds− Measure fracture toughness, sustained-load cracking thresholds,
and fatigue crack growth rates in hydrogen gas
Summary
• Completed measurements of cracking thresholds for X100 steel as a function of H2 gas pressure– Structural integrity model shows that pipeline fabricated from X100
could tolerate deep flaws– Testing results demonstrate that procedures must be defined to
ensure conservative properties are measured
• Microscopy evidence suggests that hydrogen embrittlementproceeds by transgranular fracture across the ferrite phase– Such evidence provides important information for the development
of micromechanics models of hydrogen embrittlement
