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A study of the embrittlement of AISI 4340 high strength steel as a result of cadmium electroplating
Lank, Psych
Lank, Psych
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1962-02
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION
When the resistance of steel to plastic deformation is lowered as a
result of cadmium plating, the steel is said to be embrittled. This
embrittlement manifests itself in the premature failure of the cadmium
plated parts under load. The importance of this problem, in the space
age, becomes apparent if one considers only the missile failure
that was traced to embrittled cadmium plated steel fasteners (1).
The embrittlement problem is not new. Embrittlement has plagued
other types of plating as for example copper, chromium, and nickel on
steel for a long time. It was found that short term heating relieved
the embrittlement for these types of plating and restored the original
ductility of the steel (2). This was the case for low strength cadmium
plated steel as well. However, when high strength steels were cadmium
plated, recovery to the original static fatigue strength was not always
achieved by short term heating (3).
In general, it was recognized that the cadmium plated steel was
embrittled as a result of being penetrated by the nascent hydrogen,
produced during the plating operation as a side reaction at the cathode
(4). Few hydrogen determinations have been made on cadmium plated
steel to correlate quantity of hydrogen with the degree of embrittlement.
When steel parts were heated after plating, the hydrogen was thought
to diffuse out of steel, thus relieving the embrittlement (5). The fact
that high strength steels failed to regain full ductility after the heating
operation indicated that another mechanism might be responsible for
embrittlement.
A literature survey gave support to the theory that another mechanism
for the embrittlement of high strength steel could have been tensile
stress produced at the interface between the cadmium plate and the
high strength steel (6). This tensile stress would in turn lower the
ductility of the steel.
Inasmuch as cadmium plating of steel has wide application at The Boeing
Company, Military Aircraft System Division, Wichita Branch, a program
was initiated in coordination with the University of Wichita to conduct
a study of the embrittlement of high strength AISI 4340 steel by cadmium
plate.
Table of Contents
Introduction -- Preliminary testing -- The determination of hydrogen in cadmium plated AISI 4340 steel; Procedure; Data and conclusions -- The determination of hydrogen embrittlement of AISI 4340 cadmiu plated steel by static and dynamic tensile loading; Procedure, Data and conclusions -- Summary -- Literature cited
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Thesis (M.S.)-- University of Wichita, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Chemistry
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Wichita State University
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Wichita State University