Recently, one of the authors of this report (W. Beck) published a short note1 in Corrosion dealing with the effect of surface stress on hydrogen absorption which was initiated by some striking remarks, made by C. M. Hudgins2 in a discussion of a paper by D. I. Phalen and D. A. Vaughan. Since this note evoked appreciable interest, it appeared appropriate to the writers of this report further to elaborate on it prior to the publication of the rather involved calculations.
An attempt was made to interpret some typical hydrogen embrittlement phenomena in steel, such as the beneficial effect of compressive stresses and a plastic prestrain, and the delayed brittle failure in the light of certain thermodynamic parameters. These parameters are the energy of interaction of hydrogen with the lattice, its partial molar entropy in it, and the binding energy of hydrogen with dislocations. The calculations of all...
