Hydrogen environment effects on beryllium and titanium aluminides

The NASP program has intensively studied the hydrogen-environment embrittlement (HEE) susceptibility of Be, alpha(2)-Ti3Al, and gamma-TiAl. Tensile tests are being conducted on candidate aerospace structure and propulsion candidate materials from each of the three groups, at temperatures in the -130 to +204 C range, in both 0.1 MPa and 13.8 MPa He and H2 environments, using SEM and TEM to discern the details of environmental effects. It has been established that while alpha(2) Ti3Al is HEE-susceptible even in the room-temperature and 13.8 MPa environment, neither Be nor gamma-TiAl are susceptible, even at the highest temperature tested.