On the suitability of slow strain rate tensile testing for assessing hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility

The onset of sub-critical crack growth during slow strain rate tensile testing (SSRT) is assessed through a combined experimental and modeling approach. A systematic comparison of the extent of intergranular fracture and expected hydrogen ingress suggests that hydrogen diffusion alone is insufficient to explain the intergranular fracture depths observed after SSRT experiments in a Ni–Cu superalloy. Simulations of these experiments using a new...