Thermal Desorption Spectra of H in an Fe–C–Nb Alloy Evaluated by Diffusion Simulation

In this work, cell‐based numerical long‐range diffusion calculations for hydrogen in steel are conducted to simulate the diffusion characteristics of H in the presence of atomic traps, in particular, carbides. The charging of alloys with H from the gaseous phase and the effusion during storage and thermal desorption are initially simulated. To account for the influence of NbC traps, thermokinetic simulations with the software package MatCalc are used to predict the evolution of the size distribution of precipitates during the prescribed heat treatment. The calculated precipitate sizes are compared to experimental results obtained from transmission electron microscopy. The thermal desorption spectra from the diffusion simulation are finally compared with the measured data, thus demonstrating the potential of the present simulation framework for academic studies and industrial applications related to H uptake and desorption. Cell‐based numerical long‐range diffusion calculations for hydrogen in steel are conducted to simulate the diffusion characteristics of H in the presence of NbC. The expected size distribution of the precipitates is predicted via thermokinetic calculations. Finally, the thermal desorption spectra from the diffusion simulation are compared with measured data.