Finite element analysis for steady-state hydride-induced fracture in metals by composite model

Delayed hydride cracking, which is observed in hydride-forming metals, due to the precipitation of hydrides near the crack tip, is investigated under conditions of constant temperature and crack velocity, plane strain and small-scale hydride-precipitation. The coupling of the operating physical processes of hydrogen-diffusion, hydride precipitation and material deformation is taken into account. The material is assumed to be an elastic composite made of hydrides and solid solution, with properties depending locally on the volume fraction of the hydrides. In the present analysis.. the composite elastic properties have been derived by a generalized self consistent model for particulate composites. With respect to hydride-precipitation, two cases have been considered: (i) precipitation in a homogeneous medium with elastic properties, equal to the effective properties of the composite and (ii) precipitation in an inhomogeneous medium, where the expanding hydride has different elastic properties than those of the Surrounding solid solution. The differences between the near-tip field distributions, produced by the two precipitation models, are relatively small. The effect of the hydrogen concentration far from the crack tip, on the near-tip field is also studied. It is shown that for small crack growth velocities, near the threshold stress intensity factor, the remote hydrogen concentration weakly affects the normalized stress distribution in the hydride-precipitation zone, which is controlled by the thermodynamically required hydrostatic stress, under hydrogen chemical equilibrium. However, for values of the applied stress intensity factor and the crack tip velocity, away from the threshold stress intensity factor and crack arrest, the effect of remote hydrogen concentration on the normalized near-tip stress field is strong. Reduction of the remote hydrogen concentration generally leads to reduction of the hydride-precipitation zone and increase of the near-tip stresses. Also reduction of the remote hydrogen concentration leads to distributions closer to those under hydrogen chemical equilibrium. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.