Effect of High Pressure Gaseous Hydrogen on the Tensile Properties of Four Types of Stainless Steels: Investigation of Materials Properties in High Pressure Gaseous Hydrogen—1

Practical application of fuel cell vehicle has started in the world, and high-pressure hydrogen tanks are currently considered to be the mainstream hydrogen storage system for commercially implemented fuel cell vehicle. Application of metallic materials to the components of high-pressure hydrogen storage system: hydrogen tanks, valves, measuring instructions and so on, have been discussed. In this work, tensile properties of four types of stainless steels were evaluated in 45MPa (6527psig) and 75MPa (10878psig) high-pressure gaseous hydrogen at a slow strain rate of 3×10⁻⁶ s⁻¹ at ambient temperature. Type 316L (UNS S31603) stainless steel hardly showed ductility loss in gaseous hydrogen, since it had stable austenitic structure. On the other hand, Type 304 (UNS S30400) metastable austenitic stainless steel showed remarkable ductility loss in gaseous hydrogen, which was caused by the hydrogen embrittlement of strain induced martensitic phase. Likewise, Type 205 (UNS S20500) nitrogen-strengthened austenitic stainless steel showed remarkable ductility loss in gaseous hydrogen, though it had stable austenitic structure in the same manner as Type 316L. The ductility loss of Type 205 was due to the hydrogen embrittlement of austenitic phase resulting from the formation of planar dislocation array. Furthermore, Type 329J4L (UNS S31260) duplex stainless steel showed extreme ductility loss in gaseous hydrogen, which was caused by the hydrogen embrittlement of ferritic phase.