A simple, inexpensive method for studying slow crack growth is described. The method entails measurements of load relaxation at constant displacement using a double torsion specimen. It is demonstrated that the data generated using this technique are in excellent agreement with data obtained using the more complex conventional techniques, for a range of materials - steel, titanium, glass, aluminum oxide, PMMA. These encouraging initial results suggest that additional and more detailed studies using this test procedure are merited.

A simple method for studying slow crack growth.

Hydrogen effects on the character of dislocations in high-purity aluminum

Tensile properties, high cycle fatigue strength, and fatigue crack propagation behavior were evaluated on highly textured Ti-6Al-4V material to investigate the influence of a preferred crystallographic orientation on mechanical properties. Thermomechanical treatments were used to develop three different textures: a basal, basal/transverse, and transverse type, all of which exhibited the same homogeneously equiaxed microstructure. The Young’s modulus was found to vary between 107 and 126 GNm-2, and yield strength changed from 1055 to 1170 MNm-2. Ductility was only slightly affected by texture. High cycle fatigue and fatigue crack growth measurements were performed in vacuum, laboratory air, and a 3.5 pct NaCl solution. It is shown that laboratory air can be regarded as a quite corrosive environment. In vacuum the highest fatigue strength values were measured whenever loads were perpendicular to basal planes. However, these conditions had the highest susceptibilities to air and 3.5 pct NaCl solution environments. Nearly no influence of texture on fatigue crack propagation was found in vacuum, but in a corrosive environment crack growth parallel to (0002)-planes was much faster than perpendicular to these planes. To explain the corrosive effect on the fatigue properties of the textured material hydrogen is thought to play a key role.

Influence of texture on fatigue properties of Ti-6Al-4V

This chapter focuses on two kinds of environmental fracture, stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and hydrogen embrittlement, and discusses the role in such failures of a number of metallurgical variables. These include chemical composition; microstructural components such as precipitate type and structure, and grain size and shape; crystallographic texture; heat treatment and its effect on the foregoing variables; and processing, particularly the thermomechanical treatments (TMT), which are attracting increased attention for property optimization. These variables are expected to be of great importance in the development of new engineering materials to meet demanding service conditions.

The Role of Metallurgical Variables in Hydrogen-Assisted Environmental Fracture

Titanium-based alloys provide an excellent combination of a high strength/weight ratio and good corrosion behavior, which makes these alloys among the most important advanced materials for a variety of aerospace, marine, industrial, and commercial applications. Although titanium is considered to be reasonably resistant to chemical attack, severe problems can arise when titanium-based alloys come in contact with hydrogen-containing environments, where they can pick up large amounts of hydrogen, especially at elevated temperatures. The severity and the extent of the hydrogen interaction with titanium-based alloys are directly related to the microstructure and composition of the titanium alloys. This paper addresses the hydrogen embrittlement of titanium-based alloys. The hydrogen-titanium interaction is reviewed, including the solubility of hydrogen in α and β phases of titanium and hydride formation. Also, the paper summarizes the detrimental effects of hydrogen in different titanium alloys.

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The hydrogen embrittlement of titanium-based alloys

Study of environmental hydrogen embrittlement of a Ti-6 Al-4 alloy as a function of test displacement rate and of variations in alpha-beta microstructure Embrittlement in low-pressure (about 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 alpha-phase matrix were less severely embrittled than those having a continuous beta-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 alpha-phase and beta-phase titanium

James E. Stein

Papers

Environmental hydrogen embrittlement of an α-β titanium alloy: Effect of microstructure