Contribution of galvanizing layer to hydrogen induced cracking failure of AISI 4140 bolt for padeye fixing in marine environment

A high strength bolt with hot dip galvanizing treatment failed shortly after being installed for two days on a padeye of mooring dolphin. The bolt was installed with increasing stress on the second day in which the value was nearly twice. Investigation results showed the bolt fractured with the nut head separated from the pin. Corroded fracture surface with brittle characteristic and no plastic deformation observed dominating the failed area. Characterization of hardness and chemical composition followed with microstructure and fractography observation on the fracture surface then conducted in order to analyze the reason for this brittle fracture occurrence. Results indicate that, while the bolt conforms to the material specification in term of chemical composition, the hardness value was high. The microstructure observation reveals a transgranular crack propagation and cleavage failure occurred. The cleavage failure was clearly observed under fractography observation using scanning electron microscope. Failed galvanize layer due to mechanical failure becomes preferential site for hydrogen evolution in marine environment, which leads to hydrogen diffusion into the matrix, thus results in hardness increase. The increasing stress during installation become detrimental to the bolt and facilitate the hydrogen induce cracking. Detrimental effect of hot dip galvanize layer is pointed out in the application of high strength material in marine environment.