Effect of Heat Input on Hydrogen Embrittlement of TIG Welded 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel

Welds made with 304 austenitic stainless steel play an important role in high-pressure hydrogen storage systems. However, there are few investigations of the effect of heat input on the hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of tungsten inert gas (TIG) welded 304 austenitic stainless steel. In this study, the effect of heat input on the HE of TIG welded 304 austenitic stainless steel is investigated. It was found that with the increase in TIG welding heat input, the ferrite content in the weld shows a tendency to first increase and then decrease. From the perspective of morphology, it first changes from lathy ferrite and strip ferrite to dendritic ferrite, and then becomes reticular ferrite and lathy ferrite. Slow strain rate tensile (SSRT) testing shows that with the increase in heat input from TIG welding, the susceptibility of the weld to HE first increases and then decreases. Our study shows that TIG welds of 304 austenitic stainless steel exhibit the best HE resistance when the welding heat input is 0.778 kJ/mm, the relative elongation (RE) is 0.884, and the relative reduction of area (RRA) is 0.721. This work can provide a reference for the optimization of the 304 stainless steel TIG welding process.