Session: Hydrogen and Emerging Fuels — Material Compatibility
Fracture toughness and fatigue behavior of carbon steel and stainless steel in high pressure hydrogen (C2026-00059)
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM Central
Location: 381 AB
Earn .5 PDH
Interested in reading the entire paper? Click on the "Paper" button below to read on the AMPP Knowledge Hub!
*Please note, if your registration came with access to the conference proceedings don't forget to login to your AMPP Knowledge Hub account to access the paper for free. If you login and don't have access to the paper, you can purchase the individual paper or purchase the entire conference proceedings on your Knowledge Hub account.
Underground storage is one of the key methods for storing large volumes of energy sources such as natural gas—currently a major energy resource—and hydrogen, whose usage is expected to increase in the future to realize a decarbonized society. While carbon steel is commonly used for tubing in wells dedicated solely to hydrogen storage, stainless steel is more suitable in natural gas storage wells due to the presence of CO₂ as an impurity in natural gas. Assuming a project in which an underground reservoir currently used for natural gas storage gradually increases its hydrogen content, this study investigates not only carbon steel but also martensitic stainless steel as candidate materials. In addition to fracture toughness in high-pressure hydrogen environments, fatigue resistance is also important, as seasonal fluctuations in energy demand cause pressure variations in the stored gas, leading to stress fluctuations in the steel tubing. However, the fatigue properties of martensitic stainless steel under high-pressure hydrogen conditions have not been well understood. This study reports the results of fracture toughness and fatigue tests conducted on carbon steel and martensitic stainless steel in a high-pressure hydrogen environment at 38 MPa.
