Stress-triggered atomic explosion of trapped hydrogen initiates crack nucleation

Abstract

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) has persisted for more than a century as one of the most intractable problems in materials science. The prevailing view1 that diffusive H governs embrittlement has fostered the widespread assumption that H trapping at crystal defects mitigates HE. Here we overturn this conventional paradigm. Using plasma/ion irradiation of tungsten, we decouple -- for the first time -- H-induced crack nucleation from subsequent cavity propagation, and reveal nucleation as a two-stage mechanochemical fracture instability enabled by trapped H in the absence of diffusive H. In the first stage, H accumulation to a critical occupancy at dislocation cores acts as a chemical fuse, collapsing the local cohesive strength to a threshold at which infinitesimal external loads can trigger atomic decohesion. This bond rupture instantaneously enables the second stage: confined recombination of atomic hydrogen into molecular form. The abrupt release of chemical energy within an atomically restricted volume generates a transient inflation pressure that drives a dynamic, brittle jump to an internal macroscopic cavity. By separating mechanical decohesion triggering from energetic crack driving, our results provide a deterministic framework for the onset of H-induced crack nucleation under low-stress conditions. Furthermore, we place experimentally the classical H-enhanced decohesion model on an atomistic foundation and elevate it from phenomenology to prediction. Finally, by shifting the focus from experimentally elusive diffusive H to directly measurable trapped H, this work reframes HE as a deterministic, quantifiable instability, establishing a new paradigm for understanding and mitigating H-induced failure in high-strength metals.