Effect of Line Pipe Steel Microstructure on Susceptibility to Sulfide Stress Cracking

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Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of microstructure on sulfide stress cracking (SSC) properties of line pipe steel. Different kinds of microstructures, with chemical compositions identical to one steel heat, were produced by various thermomechanically controlled processes (TMCP). Coarse ferrite-pearlite, fine ferrite-pearlite, ferrite-acicular ferrite, and ferrite-bainite microstructures were investigated with respect to corrosion properties, hydrogen diffusion, and SSC behavior. SSC was evaluated using a constant elongation rate test (CERT) in a NACE TM0177 solution (5% sodium chloride [NaCl] + 0.5% acetic acid [CH3COOH], saturated with hydrogen sulfide [H2S]). The corrosion properties of steels were evaluated by potentiodynamic and linear polarization methods. Hydrogen diffusion through steel matrix was measured by an electrochemical method using a Devanathan-Stachurski cell. The effect of microstructure on cracking behavior also was investigated with respect to crack nucleation and propagation processes. Test results showed that ferrite-acicular ferrite microstructure had the highest resistance to SSC, whereas ferrite-bainitic and coarse ferritie-pearlitic microstructures had the lowest resistance. The high susceptibility to SSC inferritie-bainitic and coarse ferritic-pearlitic microstructures resulted from crack nucleation on hard phases such as grain boundary cementite in coarse ferritie-pearlitic microstructures and martensite/retained austenite (M/A) island in bainitic phases. Hard phase cementite at grain boundaries or M/A constituent in bainitic phases acted as crack nucleation sites and could be cracked easily under external stress; consequently, the susceptibility of steel to SSC increased. Metallurgical parameters including matrix structure and defects such as grain boundary carbides and inter-lath M/A constituents were more critical parameters for controlling SSC than the hydrogen diffusion rate.