Toughness and failure of heat resistant steel before and after hydrogenation

Fracture toughness of heat-resistant steel can be increased by a preliminary thermomechanical loading called warm pre-stressing (WPS). The procedure creates a plastic deformed area around the crack tip and hence allows larger service loads to be tolerated by the cracked specimen. It is shown that a hydrogenation in the preloading stage decreases the fracture toughness of material.Investigations are also presented of the applicability of physical and mechanical approaches for the prediction of cleavage stress of materials after preliminary plastic deformation (PPD) effects and hydrogenation. Different schemes of the plastic deformation and influence of hydrogenation are considered in the preloading stage to provide different levels cleavage stress of steel 15Kh2MFA.