New high concentration-high temperature hydrogenation method for slow strain rate tensile tests

The aim of the present paper is to propose an innovative hydrogenation method based on metal hydride dissociation. By heating metal hydride, high pressure of molecular hydrogen is generated, which can be used to promote diffusion through the steel, resulting in very high atomic hydrogen concentration. This new hydrogenation method was tested on a F82H steel, a Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martensitic (RAFM) steel developed for nuclear fusion application, where high temperature Hydrogen Embrittlement (HE) is a matter of serious concern. The main goal of this study is to propose a methodology to perform tensile tests on steel at high temperature and high hydrogen contents. The technique is easy and cheap. Furthermore, by using different metal hydrides and tuning temperatures, different hydrogen concentrations can be tested.