Crack Initiation Mechanism of Hydrogen Induced Cracking in Nickel

Cracks are induced during hydrogen charging in Nickel. We have reported that the cracks initiate near the boundary between nickel matrix and nickel hydride formed near the surface by hydrogen charging. The driving force is considered to be residual stress caused by hydride formation. In the present paper, the stress distribution has been calculated near the boundary using Finite element method to clarify the crack initiation mechanism. As a result, the high-stress area corresponded to the area where the cracks were observed in the experiment.