Roles of pre-existing hydrogen micropores on ductile fracture

Synchrotron X-ray microtomography was used to observe hydrogen micropores. Competitive growth between pre-existing high-density micropores and voids originating from damage during loading was observed in an aluminum alloy during a tensile test. Extensive and premature growth of pre-existing hydrogen micropores has been observed during tension, while the ordinary damage initiation increased rapidly more later. According to the estimation on the areal fraction of dimple patterns originating from the pre-existing hydrogen micropores, it has been concluded that the hydrogen micropores more or less make contributions to ordinary ductile fracture. (author)