Abstract
Environmental hydrogen embrittlement of a Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy has been studied as a function of test displacement rate and of variations inα- β microstructure. Embrittlement in low pres sure (∼1 atm) gaseous hydrogen was inversely dependent on test displacement rate and strongly dependent on microstructure. At a given displacement rate, microstructures having a continuous α-phase matrix were less severely embrittled than those having a continuous β-phase matrix. Further, brittle fracture occurred in the former microstructures by transgranular cleavage and in the latter microstructures by intergranular separation. These observations are consistent with previous studies made on slow strain-rate embrittlement of hydrogen-charged titanium alloys and are explained in terms of relative hydrogen transport rates within the α-phase and β-phase titanium.
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Nelson, H.G., Williams, D.P. & Stein, J.E. Environmental hydrogen embrittlement of an α-β titanium alloy: Effect of microstructure. Metall Trans 3, 473–479 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02642051
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02642051