Enhancing hydrogen embrittlement resistance of high manganese steel by warm rolling process

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) is a widely known phenomenon in high Manganese (high-Mn) steel and hinders the application of high-Mn steel in hydrogen-containing environments. To mitigate the HE effect, tuning microstructure or phases by optimizing processing techniques is one of the strategies. The warm rolling process plays a crucial role in improving the HE resistance. Here, the HE effect of sustainable Fe-18Mn-3Ti (wt.%) steels with different microstructures are investigated by various processing techniques. Results reveal that the Fe-18Mn-3Ti presents high ultimate tensile strength (UTS), low hydrogen desorption, and high HE resistance by 520 °C warm rolling process. These properties owe to the formation of heterogeneous microstructure, which improves the stability of austenite and suppresses the hydrogen-induced crack (HIC) propagation. These findings offer a new route to address the balance between strength and HE resistance of high-Mn steels, which could facilitate their widespread applications.