Study on Temper Embrittlement and Hydrogen Embrittlement of a Hydrogenation Reactor by Small Punch Test

The study on temper embrittlement and hydrogen embrittlement of a test block from a 3Cr1Mo1/4V hydrogenation reactor after ten years of service was carried out by small punch test (SPT) at different temperatures. The SPT fracture energy E(sp) (derived from integrating the load-displacement curve) divided by the maximum load (F(m)) of SPT was used to fit the E(sp)/F(m) versus-temperature curve to determine the energy transition temperature (T(sp)) which corresponded to the ductile-brittle transition temperature of the Charpy impact test. The results indicated that the ratio of E(sp)/F(m) could better represent the energy of transition in SPT compared with E(sp). The ductile-to-brittle transition temperature of the four different types of materials was measured using the hydrogen charging test by SPT. These four types of materials included the base metal and the weld metal in the as-received state, and the base metal and the weld metal in the de-embrittled state. The results showed that there was a degree of temper embrittlement in the base metal and the weld metal after ten years of service at 390 °C. The specimens became slightly more brittle but this was not obvious after hydrogen charging. Because the toughness of the material of the hydrogenation reactor was very good, the flat samples of SPT could not characterize the energy transition temperature within the liquid nitrogen temperature. Additionally, there was no synergetic effect of temper embrittlement and hydrogen embrittlement found in 3Cr1Mo1/4V steel.