The Potential of the Internal Friction Technique to Evaluate the Role of Vacancies and Dislocations in the Hydrogen Embrittlement of Steels

Hydrogen embrittlement of steels is known to have considerable impact in many engineering sectors. To be able to mitigate the hydrogen embrittlement problem, a profound comprehension of the interaction of hydrogen with the steel microstructure is required. Especially the interaction of hydrogen with dislocations and vacancies is very relevant as these defects are known to play an important role in hydrogen embrittlement. At present, thermal desorption spectroscopy is mostly used to study hydrogen–defect interactions. However, information obtained solely by this technique is insufficient to obtain a full understanding of the interaction of hydrogen with these defects in the steel microstructure. Herein, the use of internal friction, as a complementary technique to thermal desorption spectroscopy, to reveal the interaction of hydrogen with dislocations and vacancies, is reviewed based on the present understanding in the literature. Furthermore, the opportunities to use internal friction to characterize the interaction between hydrogen and these defects and to give more insight into the hydrogen embrittlement mechanism are discussed. It is demonstrated that internal friction has not yet been used to its full potential for this purpose, although it entails the opportunity to develop fundamental insights into the hydrogen embrittlement phenomenon.