In order to investigate the susceptibility of steels to hydrogen embrittlement as a function of their microstructure X70 steel was chosen in different conditions: normalized transfer bar, as-received hot rolled strip and heat affected zone (HAZ). Notched and fatigue pre-cracked samples were subjected to electrochemical hydrogen charging to achieve 2 ppm hydrogen content. Three point bend tests were conducted on as-received and hydrogen charged samples. The results showed that HAZ samples are more susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement than the others. This was supported by fracture surface observations.
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