Non-destructive analysis of hydrogen-induced cracking of api steels using acoustic microscopy and small-angle neutron scattering

Acoustic microscopy and small-angle neutron scattering were applied to non-destructively evaluate the hydrogen-induced cracking of API steels and to find the initiation time of the crack. The API steels had equiaxed grains with about 4 to 12-μm average grain size along the rolling, sample-normal, and transverse directions. For 5 days of immersion in a sodium-acetic solution with chloride ions (NaCl: CH 3 COOH: H 2 O: FeCl 2 = 50: 5: 944: 1, pH = 2.7), micro-sized cracks were not formed in the as-received specimen, but they did form in the 7% deformed specimen. Nano-sized cracks were observed in the specimen after 3 days of immersion by small-angle neutron scattering.