Crack growth in deformed metals under the action of hydrogen

Equations of crack growth caused by hydrogen were constructed and the theoretically calculated results were compared with existing experimental data in order to develop the theory of crack growth in deformed steels under the action of hydrogen for a dislocation model of the micromechanism of failure in such metals in a hydrogen-containing medium. Expressions for the kinetics of hydrogen accumulation in the area of fracture forerunners were derived. The resulting theoretical model was compared with crack growth in metals in hydrogen contact. The relationship of crack growth rate to temperature and hydrogen pressure and to stress intensity factors was also studied. It was found that the theoretical and experimental results agreed with a proposed physicomechanical model of crack growth and the equations calculated on the basis of it.