Hydrogen absorption and desorption in a duplex-annealed Ti–6Al–4V alloy during exposure to different hydrogen-containing environments

Based on its excellent combination of a high strength/weight ratio and good corrosion behavior, Ti–6Al–4V alloy is ranked among the most important advanced materials for a variety of industrial applications. However, in many of these technological applications, this alloy is exposed to environments which can act as sources of hydrogen, and severe problems may arise based on its susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement. Even small hydrogen concentrations might lead to failure. Consequently, a comprehensive knowledge of hydrogen's absorption/desorption behavior and interactions between hydrogen and different microstructural features is necessary to better understand the desorption and trapping mechanisms, the types of the trap sites, and the trapped hydrogen content, in order to determine the safe service conditions of this alloy in the industry. In this paper, different characteristics of hydrogen's absorption/desorption behavior and trapping in a duplex-annealed Ti–6Al–4V alloy are studied by means of thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). Spectra analysis is supported by data from a variety of other experimental techniques, such as LECO hydrogen determinator, XRD and microstructure investigations by means of optical and electron microscopy. Hydrogen evolution is found to be a very complex process, being affected by the way hydrogen was initially introduced to the alloy, the phase transformations that may occur during the thermal analysis and the presence of potential trapping sites.