Hydrogen Tracking In Production Of A Special Forging: From Ingot Casting To Heat Treatment Using Simulation

Hydrogen has been and always will be a source of various problems within steel production because of its generally detrimental effects on processing characteristics and service performance of steel products.

Generally a small quantity of hydrogen is sufficient to cause failures because it has the ability to magnify its effect by migrating to regions of high triaxial stress. 

Unfortunately, simply determining that a failure is due to hydrogen embrittlement or some other form of hydrogen induced damage is of no particular help to the customer unless that determination is coupled with recommendations that provide pathways to avoid such damage in future applications.

The solubility of hydrogen in liquid steel is greater than that in solid steel at the melting point. During production cycle of a component hydrogen migrates from original sites across steel, thus affecting final performance of the part. 

In this paper hydrogen effect in a special forging is studied through the use of simulation. Hydrogen is tracked from ingot casting simulation along the complete production progress, including forging and heat treatment. 

Size and location of hydrogen are detailed in every phase and compared to experimental data. Process parameters affecting hydrogen removal are here studied and developed in order to achieve a component with sound microstructure.