Hydrogen resistance and trapping behaviour of a cold-drawn ferritic-pearlitic steel wire

The present work investigates the resistance of a progressively cold-drawn carbon steel wire against hydrogen embrittlement. In this study, analytical and numerical methods are used to determine the critical hydrogen content, the critical hydrogen ratio and the embrittlement indices of the different material conditions. The wire with the highest degree of cold deformation shows the highest critical hydrogen content and improved resistance against hydrogen embrittlement. At higher degrees of deformation, the material shows stronger hydrogen trapping, which improves in combination with a change in the lamellar spacing and orientation of the pearlite the resistance to hydrogen embrittlement.