Hydrogen-induced stress cracking of swaged super duplex stainless steel subsea components
A recent subsea failure of two subsea connectors made of UNS S32760, a 25 wt% Cr super duplex stainless steel, led to an extensive root cause failure analysis. The components showed a single longitudinal crack along a swaged section, which arrested toward its thicker end. The brittle nature of the f...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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NATL ASSOC CORROSION ENG
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79630 |
| _version_ | 1848764086640181248 |
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| author | Hazarabedian, M.S. Viereckl, Andy Quadir, Z. Leadbeater, G. Golovanevskiy, Vladimir Erdal, S. Georgeson, P. Iannuzzi, Mariano |
| author_facet | Hazarabedian, M.S. Viereckl, Andy Quadir, Z. Leadbeater, G. Golovanevskiy, Vladimir Erdal, S. Georgeson, P. Iannuzzi, Mariano |
| author_sort | Hazarabedian, M.S. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | A recent subsea failure of two subsea connectors made of UNS S32760, a 25 wt% Cr super duplex stainless steel, led to an extensive root cause failure analysis. The components showed a single longitudinal crack along a swaged section, which arrested toward its thicker end. The brittle nature of the fracture surface, calcareous deposits on the component, and exposure to cathodic protection suggested hydrogen-induced stress cracking—a form of environmentally assisted cracking—as a plausible failure mechanism. Thus, the three causative factors promoting hydrogen-induced stress cracking, namely, a susceptible microstructure, a hydrogen bearing environment, as well as sufficiently high applied and residual stresses in the material were the focus of this investigation. This work details the material characterization work and presents a possible failure mechanism. The results showed that the failure developed from a combination of factors, typical for hydrogen-induced stress cracking. The measured hydrogen content in parts of the material exceeded 40 ppm, more than an order of magnitude higher than what is normally expected in super duplex stainless steels. Additionally, a highly anisotropic, coarse microstructure was observed, which in combination with the introduced cold-work from the swaging process and potential stress raisers from design and machining could have facilitated crack initiation, ultimately leading to the failure of the component. This hypothesis was reinforced by the presence of secondary cracks along the main, brittle fracture surface. Furthermore, mechanical testing results showed a detrimental effect on the material’s properties due to the presence of residual hydrogen and the swaging operation. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:46Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-79630 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:46Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | NATL ASSOC CORROSION ENG |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-796302020-06-21T23:54:50Z Hydrogen-induced stress cracking of swaged super duplex stainless steel subsea components Hazarabedian, M.S. Viereckl, Andy Quadir, Z. Leadbeater, G. Golovanevskiy, Vladimir Erdal, S. Georgeson, P. Iannuzzi, Mariano Science & Technology Technology Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering Materials Science hydrogen embrittlement hydrogen induced stress cracking oil and gas subsea super duplex stainless steel EMBRITTLEMENT DEFORMATION TEMPERATURE BEHAVIOR A recent subsea failure of two subsea connectors made of UNS S32760, a 25 wt% Cr super duplex stainless steel, led to an extensive root cause failure analysis. The components showed a single longitudinal crack along a swaged section, which arrested toward its thicker end. The brittle nature of the fracture surface, calcareous deposits on the component, and exposure to cathodic protection suggested hydrogen-induced stress cracking—a form of environmentally assisted cracking—as a plausible failure mechanism. Thus, the three causative factors promoting hydrogen-induced stress cracking, namely, a susceptible microstructure, a hydrogen bearing environment, as well as sufficiently high applied and residual stresses in the material were the focus of this investigation. This work details the material characterization work and presents a possible failure mechanism. The results showed that the failure developed from a combination of factors, typical for hydrogen-induced stress cracking. The measured hydrogen content in parts of the material exceeded 40 ppm, more than an order of magnitude higher than what is normally expected in super duplex stainless steels. Additionally, a highly anisotropic, coarse microstructure was observed, which in combination with the introduced cold-work from the swaging process and potential stress raisers from design and machining could have facilitated crack initiation, ultimately leading to the failure of the component. This hypothesis was reinforced by the presence of secondary cracks along the main, brittle fracture surface. Furthermore, mechanical testing results showed a detrimental effect on the material’s properties due to the presence of residual hydrogen and the swaging operation. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79630 10.5006/3192 English NATL ASSOC CORROSION ENG restricted |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Technology Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering Materials Science hydrogen embrittlement hydrogen induced stress cracking oil and gas subsea super duplex stainless steel EMBRITTLEMENT DEFORMATION TEMPERATURE BEHAVIOR Hazarabedian, M.S. Viereckl, Andy Quadir, Z. Leadbeater, G. Golovanevskiy, Vladimir Erdal, S. Georgeson, P. Iannuzzi, Mariano Hydrogen-induced stress cracking of swaged super duplex stainless steel subsea components |
| title | Hydrogen-induced stress cracking of swaged super duplex stainless steel subsea components |
| title_full | Hydrogen-induced stress cracking of swaged super duplex stainless steel subsea components |
| title_fullStr | Hydrogen-induced stress cracking of swaged super duplex stainless steel subsea components |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hydrogen-induced stress cracking of swaged super duplex stainless steel subsea components |
| title_short | Hydrogen-induced stress cracking of swaged super duplex stainless steel subsea components |
| title_sort | hydrogen-induced stress cracking of swaged super duplex stainless steel subsea components |
| topic | Science & Technology Technology Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering Materials Science hydrogen embrittlement hydrogen induced stress cracking oil and gas subsea super duplex stainless steel EMBRITTLEMENT DEFORMATION TEMPERATURE BEHAVIOR |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79630 |