Hydrogen Treatment—An Innovative Method for Treatment of Titanium-Based Alloys

The possibility of hydrogen treatment of alloys based on titanium and its intermetallics is analyzed. The introduction of hydrogen is shown to increase the technological ductility of commercial hard-to-deform titanium alloys and alloys based on the Ti3Al and Ti2AlNb intermetallics. As the degree of aluminum alloying of the alloys increases, the hydrogen plasticization effect is found to occur at lower concentrations of introduced hydrogen. Subsequent vacuum heat treatment of the alloys is shown to remove hydrogen from the material to safe concentrations for preventing hydrogen embrittlement and to form a set of mechanical properties not inferior to those after traditional types of treatment.