Current efforts to achieve lightweight construction and the required reduction in CO₂ emissions and an increase in energy and resource efficiency call for the increasing use of high-strength fine-grain structural steels. However, as the strength of higher-strength fine-grain structural steels increases, so do the associated joining challenges. Particular attention must be paid to hydrogen-assisted cold cracking. The influence of hydrogen reveals itself less in the strength but has a significant effect on the deformability. The degradation of the material properties can lead to zero ductility, where the values of the yield strengths coincide with the tensile strengths.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a spectroscopic technique that can be used to determine elemental compositions without pre-treatment of the samples. Short, high-energy laser pulses ablate a small volume (< 0.1 mm³) of the examined material and ionize it to form a plasma. The decaying plasma emits element-specific light. This light is spectroscopically analysed and allows to detect qualitatively the present elements and to quantify them with help of a standardization routine. The simple experimental set-up and the fast, nearly non-destructive analysis procedure characterize the LIBS analysis. The LIBS method allows a time and spatially resolved in situ measurement of steel components in use.

Even low hydrogen concentrations (~ 1 wt.-ppm) in steel can be measured with the LIBS method and can be quantified with help of certified reference materials. The results are compared with results gained with the well-established carrier gas hot extraction method.