Thermodynamically consistent phase field model for hydrogen-assisted cracking

Abstract

We propose a phase field model able to simulate hydrogen-assisted cracking in polycrystalline materials. Within a variational framework, the model simultaneously describes crack propagation and hydrogen segregation on crack surfaces and grain boundaries together with the associated reduction in interfacial energies. In the context of hydrogen-enhanced decohesion (HEDE) mechanisms, we demonstrate the ability of the model to capture the transition from transgranular cracking to hydrogen-assisted intergranular cracking.