Abstract
A comparative study of the hydrogen embrittlement (HE) sensitivity of conventional and additive manufactured 316L austenitic stainless steel (ASS) is performed. In this work, cold rolled and annealed 316L ASS is compared to selective laser melting 316L ASS. Constant extension rate tensile tests in air with and without electrochemically precharged hydrogen show that the additive manufactured material is less embrittled by hydrogen compared to the conventional manufactured 316L ASS, despite a comparable precharged hydrogen content. The difference in HE sensitivity of both steels is related to a divergent sensitivity to hydrogen-assisted cracking and an altered tendency for hydrogen-induced martensitic transformation as observed via X-ray diffraction measurements.