In Situ Investigation of Thermo-stimulated Decay of Hydrides of Titanium and Zirconium by Means of X-ray Diffraction of Synchrotron Radiation

Titanium and zirconium are used in many fields such as chemical, aircraft and nuclear industries. Hydrogen penetration and accumulation in titanium and zirconium alloys leads to the hydrogen-induced embrittlement. The study of hydrogen accumulation and distribution as well as phase transitions in zirconium alloy Zr1%Nb and commercially pure titanium alloy during the gas-phase hydrogenation is motivated by looking for a way to prevent materials from embrittlement. Gas-phase hydrogenation and thermo-stimulated desorption methods were used for hydrogen sorption and accumulation processes investigation. Synchrotron XRD method was applied for in situ investigation of phase transitions during heating of hydrogen saturated materials. Measurements were performed using SR from the VEPP-3 storage ring.