Mechanical Properties of H-charged Fe-18Mn-1.5Al-0.6C TWIP Steel

Abstract

The effect of H on the mechanical properties of a high Mn twinning-induced plasticity steel was evaluated by comparing the properties of H-free and H-charged tensile specimens deformed at different temperatures prior to H-charging. The H-charging resulted in a reduction of the total elongation. The fracture surface of the tested samples revealed an inhomogeneous fracture appearance with an intergranular fracture in the range of 10 mu m to 20 mu m below the sample surface. The observations strongly suggest that it is this intergranular fracture in the surface layer which is the cause of the reduction of elongation in H-charged TWIP steel.