Understanding material degradation in titanium alloys

Titanium (Ti) and its alloys are attractive for a wide variety of structural and functional applications due to the metal’s excellent strength, toughness and stiffness, and corrosion resistance. Specific applications include lightweight structural materials, bioimplants, and energy storage materials. However, if exposed to hydrogen sources, these alloys are susceptible to hydrogen incorporation and hydride formation, leading to crack initiation and mechanical failure resulting from lattice deformation and stress accumulation. When it comes to understanding hydrogenation and hydride formation in Ti alloys, many unanswered questions and challenges remain.

In a recent perspective article, LLNL researchers and collaborators propose new ideas on how to solve these issues and close knowledge gaps by discussing and demonstrating specific opportunities for integrating advanced characterization and multiscale modeling to elucidate chemistry and composition, microstructure phenomena, and macroscale performance and testing. The team’s paper draws on their own work, as well as a contextual review of existing literature studies focused on the integration of novel experimental and computational tools for a detailed mechanistic understanding. Their research aligns with an LLNL strategic initiative on corrosion science, supporting critical mission areas related to materials aging, degradation, energy, and climate security.

Overall, the team’s research emphasizes that because combined theory–experiment approaches can uniquely and holistically investigate surface morphology, chemical composition, and hydrogen transport, future investments along these lines will be crucial. Such investments, if properly realized, can guide forthcoming strategies for slowing hydriding of Ti alloys in corrosion-resistant structural applications.

This work was funded by LLNL’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program (20-SI-04)

[Y. Zhu, T.W. Heo, J.N. Rodriguez, P.K. Weber, R. Shi, B.J. Baer, F.F. Morgado, S. Antonov, K.E. Kweon, E.B. Watkins, D.J. Savage, J.E. Chapman, N.D. Keilbart, Y. Song, Q. Zhen, B. Gault, S.C. Vogel, S.T. Sen-Britain, M.G. Shalloo, C. Orme, M. Bagge-Hansen, C. Hahn, T.A. Pham, D.D. Macdonald, S.R. Qiu, B.C. Wood, Hydriding of titanium: Recent trends and perspectives in advanced characterization and multiscale modeling, Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science (2022), DOI: 10.1016/j.cossms.2022.101020.]

–Physical and Life Sciences Communications Team