Experiment on hydrogen-embrittlement-caused failure of copper cooling stave
LI Feng-guang， QI Cheng-lin，YE Si-you，SHI Qiu-yue，GUO Rui， LIU Jian-yong
（1. School of Materials Science and Engineering， Hubei University of Automotive Technology， Shiyan 442002， Hubei，China； 2. School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering， University of Science and Technology Beijing， Beijing 100083， China）
Abstract：Hydrogen embrittlement is considered as a possible damage reason of copper cooling stave，but this view point haven’t been proved by experiments. Copper specimens from copper cooling staves was treated with a hydrogen permeation and heat preservation process under a simulated blast furnace working condition，and the hydrogen embrittlement phenomenon of copper was repeated under laboratory condition. The microstructure，mass percents of elements and macro working performance of copper were respectively characterized by metallographic microscope，scanning electron microscope，the mass percents of hydrogen and oxygen test and microhardness test. The results show that the copper cooling staves may be damaged by hydrogen embrittlement when working under abnormal conditions. When the hydrogen embrittlement phenomenon appears，large quantity of hole defect or even cracks will form around the grain boundaries，then the working performance of copper cooling staves will reduce significantly. The working condition of copper cooling stave should be carefully controlled during ironmaking process to avoid hydrogen embrittlement and keep blast furnace working safely and steadily.
