A novel method for the determination of the hydrogen solubility in aluminum and aluminum alloy melts

Abstract

The CHAPEL method, which was developed for the direct and continuous determination of the hydrogen activity in aluminum melts by measuring the equilibrium hydrogen pressure, has been modified for the determination of the hydrogen solubility in aluminum and aluminum alloy melts. The change of the hydrogen equilibrium pressure due to addition or removal of a given amount of hydrogen from a melt of known mass yields directly the Sieverts constant. Such experiments provide reliable data only if no additional gas exchange takes place between the melt and the gas phase. In the present work, a quasi-impermeable interface between the melt and the surrounding hydrogen atmosphere has been realized by maintaining the hydrogen pressure above the melt continuously at the level of the hydrogen equilibrium pressure. By this technique, which is performed by a relatively simple experimental setup, fast determination of the hydrogen solubility is possible. The main advantage of this novel method is the fact that it can be applied also for aluminum alloys without protective oxide layer on the surface. Preliminary results on pure aluminum and Al-Cu alloy melts show good agreement with the data obtained by the classical method of Sieverts that is not well suited for routine determinations on a wide range of alloy composition and temperature since it is very time-consuming. The method can also be applied for the investigation of other metal and alloy melts.