Hydrogen embrittlement behavior of three austenitic stainless steels with 0.1−0.3 wt.%C was investigated. Carbon alleviated hydrogen-induced degradation of tensile properties. Increasing the carbon content over 0.1 wt.% hardly influenced hydrogen diffusivity. Hydrogen caused cracks to initiate at grain boundaries on the sample surface, and to propagate inside the grains through α’ and ε martensites. The crack propagation was suspended by confronting a grain boundary, and did not reach the depth of hydrogen penetration. It was suggested that the carbon at grain boundaries delayed the crack initiation, and the carbon in solid solution enhanced austenite stability, which impeded the crack propagation.

研究了三种含0.1-0.3 wt。％C的奥氏体不锈钢的氢脆行为。碳减轻了氢引起的拉伸性能下降。将碳含量增加到超过0.1重量％几乎不影响氢扩散率。氢导致裂纹在样品表面的晶界处萌生，并通过α'和ε马氏体在晶粒内部传播。裂纹扩展通过面对晶界而被暂停，并且没有达到氢渗透的深度。提示晶界处的碳延迟了裂纹的产生，固溶碳增强了奥氏体的稳定性，从而阻碍了裂纹的扩展。