The inhibitory effect of carbon monoxide contained in hydrogen gas environment on hydrogen-accelerated fatigue crack growth and its loading frequency dependency

The effect of carbon monoxide (CO) contained in H2 gas as an impurity on the hydrogen-accelerated fatigue crack growth of A333 pipe steel was studied in association with loading frequency dependency. The addition of CO to H2 gas inhibited the accelerated fatigue crack growth due to the hydrogen. The inhibitory effect was affected by the CO content in the H2 gas, loading frequency, and crack growth rate. Based on these results, it was revealed that the inhibitory effect of CO was governed by both competition between the rate of fresh surface creation by the crack growth and the rate of coverage of the surface by CO and time for hydrogen diffusion in the material to the crack tip with reduced hydrogen entry by CO.