These first explicit measurements of permeation on thin membranes have so far raised more questions than they have answered. In particular, thin membranes demand more accurate measuring techniques, and a simple transposition of the methods employed for thick membranes is not always sufficient. Similarly, stringent validation procedures are necessary in this case, whereas they have tended to be overlooked in the past due to the familiarity of the accepted methodology. Despite their incomplete and imperfect nature, these first results show that the combination of a direct permeation measurement on a thin membrane and the inflation kinetics PH2(t) of a hydrogen probe gives access to the two controlling parameters of all hydrogen damage mechanisms, i.e. the raw charging flux Job and the degassing coefficient ...
Key words:steel, hydrogen charging, external hydrogen, hydrogen stress cracking, H2S, sulfide stress cracking, permeation