Trincamento induzido por hidrogênio em aços inoxidáveis supermartensíticos modificados pela ação de boro para aplicação em exploração de petróleo em águas profundas

Abstract

The oil exploitation and production in deep water involves drilling risers with over 7 km deep. In this condition, the environments found in such wells are too adverse, acting under the exploration and production equipment, high pressures, low temperatures, severe conditions of corrosion, wear and enabling environments to hydrogen formation in the presence of H2S. Stainless steels, such as supermartensitic, duplex and super duplex have corrosion resistance and mechanical properties suitable for use in pipes in oil exploitation; however, such materials have low wear resistance. Recent studies in DEMa-UFSCar shown promising results related to supermartensitic stainless steel with boron addition, promoting the borides formation which, in turn, increases the wear resistance of these materials. In this situation, no studies have yet been performed in relation to another critical requirement in this type of request: the hydrogen permeation. It is known that hydrogen in its atomic form, when it diffuses through the steel is deleterious to the mechanical properties. Thus, a more detailed study is needed to assess the influence of this element in such properties, analyzing his performance in microstructural character. The materials produced were characterized by techniques with X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). After this stage, tensile specimens were hydrogenated by electrolytic technique and tested with low strain rate. The results were compared with the same material without a prior hydrogenation and showed a major influence of the microstructure in relation to the reduction of the absolute value of some important mechanical properties.