X-ray diffraction patterns of studied steels after hydrogen charging are presented in Fig. 1. It is seen that hydrogen causes two main effects: (i) the broadening of austenitic X-ray reflections and the shift of their gravity center towards smaller angles, (ii) theTable 2. It is worth noting that the fraction of εH-martensite non-γ-ε transformation which is enhanced by the decrease in the Ni content and addition of Si. The hydrogen/metal ratios H/M and ε/γ intensities are given inmonotonously increases with hydrogen concentration in the surface layer, which is a hint that some processes are superposed on the hydrogen migration and γ-ε transformation in the course of charging. Crystallographic texture created due to hydrogen charging is shown in Fig. 2. The pole figure (111)γ was chosen for this presentation. After hot rolling, all the steels have a typical sheet crystallographic texture (see Fig. 2a for steel Cr15Ni40). Annealing at 1100 °C causes recrystallization, and narrow peaks of separated grains are clearly resolved in the pole figures (Fig. 2b), their distribution being close to the texture after hot rolling, though. Due to hydrogen charging, the axisymmetric (fiber) texture is formed in steel Cr15Ni40 (Fig. 2c), where hydrogen does not causethe γ-ε transformation because of the low hydrogen concentration in the surface layer and increased stacking fault energy due to high Ni content. In contrast to that, two texture components are observed in the hydrogen-charged steels Cr15Ni25 and Cr15Ni25Si2 which are prone to the formation of εH-martensite in the course of cathodic charging (Fig. 2d and e). These components are the following: (i) the axial texture, of which intensity decreases with increasing fraction of ε-martensite, (ii) the blurred reflections remained from the recrystallized grains of the initial texture in the annealed austenite. The occurrence of crystallographic texture is the evidence that cathodic charging is accompanied by intensive plastic deformation caused by the non-homogeneous stress field within the surface layer. One can conclude from the comparison of Fig. 2c–e that the γ-ε transformation decreases the degree of this non-reversible plastic deformation. Mechanical properties of hydrogen charged samples in comparison with the non-charged ones were studied in order to clarify the factors responsible for the formation of ε-martensite and the evolution of crystallographic texture (Fig. 3 and Table 2). Steel Cr15Ni40 has the highest plasticity in the annealed state and, at the same time, reveals its maximal loss due to hydrogen charging. Steel Cr15Ni25, where the hydrogen content in the surface layer is increased in comparison with Cr15Ni40 and the hydrogen-induced γ-ε transformation occurs, possesses a higher resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. The addition of Si to steel Cr15Ni25 has led to a smaller resistance to hydrogen embrittlement, which seems to be at variance with the decreased hydrogen content in the surface layer and the higher fraction of hydrogen-induced ε-martensite.