Detecting Hydrogen Concentrations in Steel Surfaces Using LIBS
A research team found that laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a promising technique for in situ measurement of hydrogen concentration in steel surfaces. The study compared LIBS to carrier gas hot extraction (CGHE) for hydrogen measurements in steel containers, which is currently the industry standard. Therefore, the feasibility of quantitative LIBS measurements for this application could be demonstrated.
The set-up at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung in Berlin used an Echelle spectrometer (Aryelle 200) from LTB Lasertechnik Berlin GmbH, which provided high spectral resolution (20-80 pm) simultaneously with a broad spectral range (200-800 nm). The results from austenitic steel samples, charged with hydrogen, clearly indicate that LIBS is suitable for time- and spatially resolved measurements of hydrogen in steel surfaces. The advantage of LIBS lies in its ability to perform fast, temporally and spatially resolved measurements on the surface of metals. For more detailed information on the experiments and results, read the paper, entitled “In situ measurement of hydrogen concentration in steel using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.”
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