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Main Authors: Bie, Xiaohan, Ren, Baihua, Zhou, Xiao, Brahimi, Salim, Yue, Stephen, Song, Jun
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.14710
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author Bie, Xiaohan
Ren, Baihua
Zhou, Xiao
Brahimi, Salim
Yue, Stephen
Song, Jun
author_facet Bie, Xiaohan
Ren, Baihua
Zhou, Xiao
Brahimi, Salim
Yue, Stephen
Song, Jun
contents High-strength steel is a structural metal crucial for load-bearing components yet is known to be highly susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement (HE). Vanadium (V) and niobium (Nb) containing precipitated carbides introduce strong hydrogen traps to immobilize hydrogen, thus mitigating HE. However, variations in intrinsic vacancy concentrations in these carbides affect hydrogen thermodynamics and kinetics but remain poorly understood. Employing first-principles calculations, hydrogen trapping and diffusion in V/Nb carbides were investigated. Hydrogen dissolution energies are composition-dependent, revealing a transition from reversible to irreversible trapping with increasing carbon vacancy content, prescribed by the strength of covalent bonds with neighboring V/Nb atoms. Meanwhile, the diffusion energy barrier decreases with increasing carbon vacancy content, attributed to changes in vacancy patterns within carbides. The findings contribute new and critical knowledge for understanding hydrogen trapping and diffusion in sub-stoichiometric V/Nb carbides, providing valuable guidance for process and composition innovation of high-strength alloy steels for better HE resistance.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_14710
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Hydrogen trapping in sub-stoichiometric niobium and vanadium carbide precipitates in high-strength steels
Bie, Xiaohan
Ren, Baihua
Zhou, Xiao
Brahimi, Salim
Yue, Stephen
Song, Jun
Materials Science
High-strength steel is a structural metal crucial for load-bearing components yet is known to be highly susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement (HE). Vanadium (V) and niobium (Nb) containing precipitated carbides introduce strong hydrogen traps to immobilize hydrogen, thus mitigating HE. However, variations in intrinsic vacancy concentrations in these carbides affect hydrogen thermodynamics and kinetics but remain poorly understood. Employing first-principles calculations, hydrogen trapping and diffusion in V/Nb carbides were investigated. Hydrogen dissolution energies are composition-dependent, revealing a transition from reversible to irreversible trapping with increasing carbon vacancy content, prescribed by the strength of covalent bonds with neighboring V/Nb atoms. Meanwhile, the diffusion energy barrier decreases with increasing carbon vacancy content, attributed to changes in vacancy patterns within carbides. The findings contribute new and critical knowledge for understanding hydrogen trapping and diffusion in sub-stoichiometric V/Nb carbides, providing valuable guidance for process and composition innovation of high-strength alloy steels for better HE resistance.
title Hydrogen trapping in sub-stoichiometric niobium and vanadium carbide precipitates in high-strength steels
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.14710