Ammonia mitigation and induction effects on hydrogen environment embrittlement of SCM440 low-alloy steel

The effect of ammonia (NH3) contained in hydrogen (H2) gas on hydrogen environment embrittlement (HEE) of SCM440 low-alloy steel was studied in association with the NH3 concentration, loading rate, and gas pressure. NH3 worked as both mitigator of the HEE and inducer of hydrogen embrittlement (HE) depending on the testing conditions. The mitigation of the HEE was achieved by the deactivation of the iron (Fe) surface for H2 dissociation caused by the preferential adsorption of NH3 on the Fe surface, which is enhanced by the increase in the NH3 concentration and decrease in the H2 gas pressure. NH3 induced HE was caused due to creating hydrogen by the NH3 decomposition. Since the NH3 decomposition rate is low, the induction effect was observed when the loading rate was low. The effect of NH3 was determined by the competition of the mitigation and induction effects.