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Atomistic Simulation Techniques to Model Hydrogen Segregation and Hydrogen Embrittlement in Metallic Materials

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Handbook of Mechanics of Materials

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Abstract

Hydrogen embrittlement is an important phenomenon where the mechanical properties of a metallic material are degraded in the presence of hydrogen, sometimes leading to a change in the failure mode of the metallic material. Although mechanical failures due to hydrogen embrittlement have been observed for over a century, the atomic-level mechanisms associated with the hydrogen embrittlement process are still under debate. In this chapter, atomistic simulation efforts focused on hydrogen segregation and hydrogen embrittlement are reviewed. Atomistic simulation methods provide a nanoscale modeling technique capable of studying the role of hydrogen atoms on dislocation nucleation, crack propagation, and grain boundary decohesion. Examples are provided in this chapter of the use of a site-energy selection method to study hydrogen segregation and molecular dynamics simulations to study hydrogen-induced grain boundary decohesion in nickel. Grain boundary strength and work of separation in the presence of segregated hydrogen are computed from the molecular dynamics simulations. Subsequently, this data may be used in higher length scale models and simulations of the hydrogen embrittlement process.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at Sandia National Laboratories, a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC0494AL85000.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Douglas E. Spearot

  2. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Rémi Dingreville & Christopher J. O’Brien

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  1. Douglas E. Spearot
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  2. Rémi Dingreville
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  3. Christopher J. O’Brien
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Correspondence to Douglas E. Spearot .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Materials Testing, Materials Science and Strength of Materials, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Siegfried Schmauder

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chuin-Shan Chen

  3. UAB Mail BEC 254, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Krishan K. Chawla

  4. Fulton School of Engineering, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA

    Nikhilesh Chawla

  5. Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou, China

    Weiqiu Chen

  6. Katayanagi Advanced Research Laboratories, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Yutaka Kagawa

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Spearot, D.E., Dingreville, R., O’Brien, C.J. (2019). Atomistic Simulation Techniques to Model Hydrogen Segregation and Hydrogen Embrittlement in Metallic Materials. In: Schmauder, S., Chen, CS., Chawla, K., Chawla, N., Chen, W., Kagawa, Y. (eds) Handbook of Mechanics of Materials. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6884-3_14

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