Effect of hydrogen addition on the microstructure of TC21 alloy

▶ The aim of this paper is to study the effect of hydrogen content (0-0.887 wt.%H) on microstructure, phase composition, microhardness and β transus temperature of TC21 alloy. The results show that, with increasing hydrogen content, the β phase increases, the α/β interfaces of lamellar transformed β phase disappear, the lattice parameter of β phase increases and the β transus temperature decreases for the hydrogenated TC21 alloy. In comparison to the as-received TC21 alloy, the contrasts of primary α phase and transformed β phase under optical microscope in the TC21 alloy with high hydrogen content are reversed completely. Furthermore, the γ and δ hydrides are detected in the hydrogenated TC21 alloy. In addition, the variations of phase compositions for the hydrogenated TC21 alloy have influence on microhardness and β transus temperature. ▶ In conclusion, this paper shows some significant rules about the influence of hydrogen on TC21 alloy.