Role of microstructure on sulfide stress cracking of oil and gas pipeline steels

Sulfide stress cracking (SSC) behavior of three microstructures, i.e., ferritic-pearlitic microstructure, ultrafine ferrite microstructure, and acicular ferrite dominated microstructure, was investigated using the bent-beam test in aqueous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) environments. The critical stress (Sc) values of these three microstructures were determined experimentally to be 1008, 1190, and more than 1260 MPa, respectively. As a result, the acicular ferrite-dominated microstructure possessed the best SSC resistance, the ultrafine ferrite microstructure was in a second position, and the ferritic-pearlitic microstructure was relatively the worst. It was analyzed that hydrogen embrittlement (HE) was the main failure mechanism in SSC cracking for high-strength pipeline steels, and preferential hydrogen accumulation within the plastic zone of the main crack tip accounted for the exhibited embrittlement. It was remarkable that the strength values of pipeline steels were not the only factor to determine their SSC susceptibilities. Microstructure played an important role in the SSC initiation and propagation of pipeline steels. In particular, both the fine dispersed precipitations of carbonitrides and the high-density tangled dislocations in acicular ferrite, which behaved as the hydrogen traps, should be attributed to the optimal SSC resistance of pipeline steels.