Hydrogen Embrittlement of Austenitic Stainless Steel Available to Purchase

Type 310 stainless steel in thin sections was embrittled by hydrogen. The temperature and strain rate dependence of this embrittlement was almost analogous to that well-established for hydrogenated body- centered cubic (b.c.c.) metals, differing only in that at low temperatures and relatively high strain rates complete recovery in ductility was not achieved. The activation energy for recovery in ductility, determined by aging at several temperatures, was 10,900 cal/mole.