Abstract
Sets of low carbon steel (AISI 1015) fatigue specimens were cathodically charged with hydrogen. Transverse Vickers hardness profile was measured for each specimen to estimate the hydrogen penetration. The fatigue life and ductility decreased with increasing hydrogen content, while the UTS increased due to the hardening effect of hydrogen. Hydrogen baking time, to restore 50% of the fatigue life, was utilized in calculating the activation energy for the process. The estimated value for the activation energy through the use of this proposed technique proved to be in close agreement with the reported values in the literature.