In-Situ Hollow Sample Setup Design for Mechanical Characterisation of Gaseous Hydrogen Embrittlement of Pipeline Steels and Welds

This work discusses the design and demonstration of an in-situ test setup for testing pipeline steels in a high pressure gaseous hydrogen (H2) environment. A miniature hollow pipe-like tensile specimen was designed that acts as gas containment volume during test. Specific areas can be forced to fracture by selective notching, performed on weldment. The H2 used minimised so safely without need specialised equipment. is shown capable characterising Hydrogen Embrittlement (HE) through X60 steel its percentage elongation (%El) base metal found reduced 40% when tested 100 barg H2. Reduction cross-sectional area (%RA) decrease 28% 11% weld metal, respectively, Benchmark were at N2 pressure. SEM fractography further indicated shift from normal ductile mechanisms brittle transgranular (TG) quasi-cleavage (QC) type characteristic HE.