Hydrogen Assisted Fracture of 30MnB5 High Strength Steel: A Case Study

When steel components fail in service due to the intervention of hydrogen assisted cracking, discussion of the root cause arises. The failure is frequently blamed on component design, working conditions, the manufacturing process, or the raw material. This work studies the influence of quench and tempering and hot-dip galvanizing on the hydrogen embrittlement behavior of a high strength steel. Slow strain rate tensile testing has been employed to assess this influence. Two sets of specimens have been tested, both in air and immersed in synthetic seawater, at three process steps: in the delivery condition of the raw material, after heat treatment and after heat treatment plus hot-dip galvanizing. One of the specimen sets has been tested without further manipulation and the other set has been tested after applying a hydrogen effusion treatment. The outcome, for this case study, is that fracture risk issues only arise due to hydrogen re-embrittlement in wet service

Accelerated western European heatwave trends linked to more-persistent double jets over Eurasia

Persistent heat extremes can have severe impacts on ecosystems and societies, including excess mortality, wildfires, and harvest failures. Here we identify Europe as a heatwave hotspot, exhibiting upward trends that are three-to-four times faster compared to the rest of the northern midlatitudes over the past 42 years. This accelerated trend is linked to atmospheric dynamical changes via an increase in the frequency and persistence of double jet stream states over Eurasia. We find that double jet occurrences are particularly important for western European heatwaves, explaining up to 35% of temperature variability. The upward trend in the persistence of double jet events explains almost all of the accelerated heatwave trend in western Europe, and about 30% of it over the extended European region. Those findings provide evidence that in addition to thermodynamical drivers, atmospheric dynamical changes have contributed to the increased rate of European heatwaves, with implications for risk management and potential adaptation strategies. © 2022, The Author(s)

The extremely hot and dry 2018 summer in central and northern Europe from a multi-faceted weather and climate perspective

The summer of 2018 was an extraordinary season in climatological terms for northern and central Europe, bringing simultaneous, widespread, and concurrent heat and drought extremes in large parts of the continent with extensive impacts on agriculture, forests, water supply, and the socio-economic sector. Here, we present a comprehensive, multi-faceted analysis of the 2018 extreme summer in terms of heat and drought in central and northern Europe, with a particular focus on Germany. The heatwave first affected Scandinavia in mid-July and shifted towards central Europe in late July, while Iberia was primarily affected in early August. The atmospheric circulation was characterized by strongly positive blocking anomalies over Europe, in combination with a positive summer North Atlantic Oscillation and a double jet stream configuration before the initiation of the heatwave. In terms of possible precursors common to previous European heatwaves, the Eurasian double-jet structure and a tripolar sea surface temperature anomaly over the North Atlantic were already identified in spring. While in the early stages over Scandinavia the air masses at mid and upper levels were often of a remote, maritime origin, at later stages over Iberia the air masses primarily had a local-to-regional origin. The drought affected Germany the most, starting with warmer than average conditions in spring, associated with enhanced latent heat release that initiated a severe depletion of soil moisture. During summer, a continued precipitation deficit exacerbated the problem, leading to hydrological and agricultural drought. A probabilistic attribution assessment of the heatwave in Germany showed that such events of prolonged heat have become more likely due to anthropogenic global warming. Regarding future projections, an extreme summer such as that of 2018 is expected to occur every 2 out of 3 years in Europe in a +1.5 ∘C warmer world and virtually every single year in a +2 ∘C warmer world. With such large-scale and impactful extreme events becoming more frequent and intense under anthropogenic climate change, comprehensive and multi-faceted studies like the one presented here quantify the multitude of their effects and provide valuable information as a basis for adaptation and mitigation strategies

Hydrogen Assisted Fracture of 30MnB5 High Strength Steel: A Case Study

When steel components fail in service due to the intervention of hydrogen assisted cracking, discussion of the root cause arises. The failure is frequently blamed on component design, working conditions, the manufacturing process, or the raw material. This work studies the influence of quench and tempering and hot-dip galvanizing on the hydrogen embrittlement behavior of a high strength steel. Slow strain rate tensile testing has been employed to assess this influence. Two sets of specimens have been tested, both in air and immersed in synthetic seawater, at three process steps: in the delivery condition of the raw material, after heat treatment and after heat treatment plus hot-dip galvanizing. One of the specimen sets has been tested without further manipulation and the other set has been tested after applying a hydrogen effusion treatment. The outcome, for this case study, is that fracture risk issues only arise due to hydrogen re-embrittlement in wet service

Susceptibilidad a la fragilización por hidrógeno de aceros de alta resistencia: comportamiento en ambientes marinos y modelización de patrones de agrietamiento

The use of high strength steels is increasing steadily due to the cost, weight and performance advantages they offer. As a drawback, these materials are sensitive to environmental hydrogen embrittlement processes that reduce drastically the working loads they can resist, what limits their spreading to many applications. Since this embrittlement is catalyzed by corrosion prevention strategies involving cathodic protection, seawater exposed structures are specially concerned for the attack of hydrogen. Thus, high strength steel use for wet applications must be carefully assessed. In this context, this thesis deals with the study of the hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of industrial high strength steels for immersed service in mooring chains and bolted joints. Based on the slow strain rate tensile testing method, the influence of cathodic protection and water temperature has been studied for submerged mooring chain steel grades R4, R5 and bolt steel class 10.9. A finite difference modeling strategy for predicting the cracking pattern observed during the experimental work is proposed.El empleo de aceros de alta resistencia está en constante aumento debido a las ventajas que ofrecen en coste, peso y rendimiento. Como contrapartida, estos materiales son sensibles a procesos de fragilización ambiental por hidrógeno que reducen de forma drástica las cargas que pueden resistir en servicio, lo que limita su extensión a muchas aplicaciones. Teniendo en cuenta que esta fragilización se cataliza en presencia de estrategias de protección catódica contra la corrosión, las estructuras en contacto con agua marina están especialmente expuestas al ataque por hidrógeno. En consecuencia, el uso de aceros de alta resistencia en contacto con agua debe ser analizado con cautela. En este contexto, esta tesis estudia la susceptibilidad a la fragilización por hidrógeno de aceros de alta resistencia de uso industrial para cadenas de fondeo y uniones atornilladas sumergidas. Se ha estudiado la influencia del tipo de protección catódica y la temperatura del agua en aceros para cadena de grados R4, R5 y acero de tornillería de clase 10.9, aplicando el método de ensayo de tracción a baja velocidad de deformación. Los patrones de agrietamiento observados en el trabajo experimental se han modelizado mediante una estrategia de cálculo por diferencias finitas

Susceptibilidad a la fragilización por hidrógeno de aceros de alta resistencia: comportamiento en ambientes marinos y modelización de patrones de agrietamiento

The use of high strength steels is increasing steadily due to the cost, weight and performance advantages they offer. As a drawback, these materials are sensitive to environmental hydrogen embrittlement processes that reduce drastically the working loads they can resist, what limits their spreading to many applications. Since this embrittlement is catalyzed by corrosion prevention strategies involving cathodic protection, seawater exposed structures are specially concerned for the attack of hydrogen. Thus, high strength steel use for wet applications must be carefully assessed. In this context, this thesis deals with the study of the hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of industrial high strength steels for immersed service in mooring chains and bolted joints. Based on the slow strain rate tensile testing method, the influence of cathodic protection and water temperature has been studied for submerged mooring chain steel grades R4, R5 and bolt steel class 10.9. A finite difference modeling strategy for predicting the cracking pattern observed during the experimental work is proposed.El empleo de aceros de alta resistencia está en constante aumento debido a las ventajas que ofrecen en coste, peso y rendimiento. Como contrapartida, estos materiales son sensibles a procesos de fragilización ambiental por hidrógeno que reducen de forma drástica las cargas que pueden resistir en servicio, lo que limita su extensión a muchas aplicaciones. Teniendo en cuenta que esta fragilización se cataliza en presencia de estrategias de protección catódica contra la corrosión, las estructuras en contacto con agua marina están especialmente expuestas al ataque por hidrógeno. En consecuencia, el uso de aceros de alta resistencia en contacto con agua debe ser analizado con cautela. En este contexto, esta tesis estudia la susceptibilidad a la fragilización por hidrógeno de aceros de alta resistencia de uso industrial para cadenas de fondeo y uniones atornilladas sumergidas. Se ha estudiado la influencia del tipo de protección catódica y la temperatura del agua en aceros para cadena de grados R4, R5 y acero de tornillería de clase 10.9, aplicando el método de ensayo de tracción a baja velocidad de deformación. Los patrones de agrietamiento observados en el trabajo experimental se han modelizado mediante una estrategia de cálculo por diferencias finitas

Evaluation of the release characteristics of covalently attached or electrostatically bound biocidal polymers utilizing SERS and UV-Vis absorption

In this work, biocidal polymers with antimicrobial quaternized ammonium groups introduced in the polymer biocidal chains either through covalent attachment or electrostatic interaction have been separately incorporated in a poly (methyl methacrylate) polymer matrix. The objective of present study was to highlight the release characteristics of biocidal polymers, primarily in saline but also in water ethanol solutions, utilizing UV-Vis absorption and Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS). It is shown that through the combination of UV-Vis and SERS techniques, upon the release process, it is possible the discrimination of the polymeric backbone and the electrostatically bound biocidal species. Moreover, it is found that electrostatically bound and covalently attached biocidal species show different SERS patterns. The long term aim is the development of antimicrobial polymeric materials containing both ionically bound and covalently attached quaternary ammonium thus achieving a dual functionality in a single component polymeric design