Hydrogen diffusion and trapping in Ti-modified advanced high strength steels

The influence of Ti on hydrogen diffusion and trapping in various advanced high strength steels was investigated. Electrochemical hydrogen permeation tests were performed on various model steels, with and without Ti, with benchmark tests performed using a commercial steel variant. The hydrogen trapping parameters for each steel were determined by fitting the permeation curves with a finite element model based on the McNabb and Foster equations using least squares minimisation. The influence of Ti on the hydrogen trapping parameters was greatly dependent on microstructure, with ferrite-containing grades being most affected. The results are inconsistent with hydrogen trapping by TiC particles, but consistent with trapping by boundaries between neighbouring ferrite and martensite grains.