What is
CRYSTAL project

Reducing the hydrogen embrittlement risk in high strength steel parts for the automotive industry

CRYSTAL RFCS project main goal is to transfer to the steel and automotive industry experimental tools and methodologies to predict hydrogen embrittlement in the early materials or part production stages and assure part quality in order to boost the applicability of advanced high strength steels in safety related automotive parts.

During the project the hydrogen content in representative AHSS, cold rolled and press hardening steels will be examined. The project will use a novel solid-state gas sensor to quantitatively measure in-situ the hydrogen absorbed during the production of steel parts and during their service life. In addition, a new test based on the mechanics of failure will be developed to quickly and efficiently calculate the dependence of the resistance to the generation and propagation of a crack on the hydrogen content absorbed in the steel.

Start

July 2020 to June 2023

Duration

36 months

Funded under

Research Fund for Coal and Steel RFCS-RPJ

CRYSTAL project tackles the industry need to better understand hydrogen embrittlement of AHSS in the automotive industry by combining semi-quantitative hydrogen measurements during AHSS processing and better-defined test methods leading to well-founded recommendations for material selection and car manufacture

Key Outputs

  • 1

    Non-destructive hydrogen monitoring test using a hydrogen sensor probe

  • 2

    Experimental tests to determine hydrogen embrittlement risk and diffusible hydrogen thresholds

  • 3

    Innovative mechanical test solution to reliably measure the effects of diffusible hydrogen on crashworthiness and/or edge cracking resistance

  • 4

    Determination of the hydrogen absorption sources in AHSS and PHS part manufacturing

  • 5

    Evaluation of the hydrogen absorption during operative life of the vehicle

  • 6

    Holistic approach to hydrogen embrittlement in materials for vehicle lightweighting