Project

A computational framework for quantifying hydrogen embrittlement in steels

Code
12ZZN23N
Duration
01 January 2023 → 31 December 2024
Research disciplines
  • Engineering and technology
    • Computational materials science
    • Metals and alloy materials
Keywords
Material reliability Micromechanics Hydrogen embrittlement
 
Project description

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) is a damaging mechanism resulting from the absorption and diffusion of hydrogen in metals and
alloys. It is gaining an increasing interest in recent years both from scientific and socio-economic point of view due to the role of
hydrogen in the green energy transition and meeting the targets of the European Green Deal. As such, quantitative understanding
and prediction of HE is fundamental to the safety and durability of structures in contact with hydrogen. To this end, the H2BRITTLE
project will develop a new computational framework for modeling hydrogen-microstructure interactions at the mesoscale. The
framework will combine phase-field method for microstructure generation, advanced hydrogen diffusion and trapping models, and
Fast Fourier Transform micromechanical solver to demystify the chemo-mechanics of these interactions. It will be applied to several
types of hydrogen-microstructure interactions and validated by comparison with existing experimental results. The project will be
implemented in the group of Prof. Kim Verbeken at UGent, which is an internationally top group in the experimental analysis of
hydrogen-material interactions. The synergy between the computational framework developed in this project with the
experimentally oriented methodologies developed by the group has a strong potential to result in ground breaking research in the
challenging field of HE. The group is a member of the Belgian Hydrogen Fundamental Expertise (BE-HyFE) project, which is an
excellent opportunity for me to interact with hydrogen experts from academia and industry in Belgium. H2BRITTLE is a seed for a
follow up project on the synergistic computational/experimental approach to study HE. The scientific/non-scientific activities in this
fellowship will develop me towards an academic career with socio-economically relevant research.