The Hydrogen Trapping Ability of TiC and V4C3 by Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy and Permeation Experiments

Hydrogen (H) presence in metals is detrimental as unpredictable failure might occur. Recent developments in material’s design indicated that microstructural features such as precipitates play an essential role in potentially increasing the resistance against H induced failure. This work evaluates the H trapping characteristics for TiC and V₄C₃ by thermal desorption spectroscopy and permeation experiments. Two microstructural conditions are compared: as quenched vs. quenched and tempered, in which the carbides are introduced. The tempered induced precipitates are able to deeply trap a significant amount of H, which decreases the H diffusivity in the materials and removes some of the detrimental H from the microstructure. For microstructural design purposes, it is important to know the position of H. Here, H is demonstrated to be trapped at the carbide/matrix interface by modifying the tempering treatment.