The Role of Hydrogen in the Corrosion and Cracking of Steels - A Review

In many processes of steel industrial, including steel manufacture, storage, and service, hydrogen could be absorbed into metallic materials, and the absorbed hydrogen seriously impaired its corrosion resistance. This paper provides a comprehensive review on the effects of hydrogen on passive film, anodic dissolution, pitting corrosion and stress corrosion cracking, and based on the review the mechanism by which hydrogen promotes corrosion of steel and subsequently leads to cracking has been discussed. It is envisaged that hydrogen harms the stability of the passive film and as a result, escalates anode’s activation of steel, eventually leading to pitting and stress corrosion cracking.