Hydrogen embrittlement behavior of Ni-Ti shape memory alloy with different microstructures in acidic fluoride solution

Abstract

It is important to investigate the mechanism for the hydrogen embrittlement of Ni-Ti alloys in acidic fluoride solutions to improve the reliability and safety of these alloys as dental devices. Therefore, the hydrogen embrittlement behavior of Ni-Ti shape memory alloy immersed in acidic fluoride solution was investigated with a focus on the constituent phase in the microstructure of the alloy in this study. Three microstructures with different phases (parent single phase, mixture of parent and martensite phases, and martensite single phase) were prepared by tensile loading and unloading. The specimens were immersed separately in 50 mL of 0.2 % acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) solution with pH 5.0 at room temperature (25 °C) for various periods. After immersion for 2 h, the tensile strengths of all the specimens were not significantly changed with respect to those of the non-immersed specimens. After immersion for 4 h, the tensile strengths of all the specimens immersed were decreased with respect to those of the non-immersed specimens, and the tensile strength of the martensite single phase specimen (C) was higher than that of parent single phase specimen (A) and the parent/martensite mixed phase specimen (B). After immersion for 6 h, the tensile strengths of all the specimens were decreased with respect to those of the specimens immersed for 4 h, and the tensile strength of specimen B was lower than that of specimens A and C. The susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement of the Ni-Ti shape memory alloy with a microstructure including the parent phase tends to be high when the degree of corrosion is not significantly different for the alloy microstructure. Moreover, the effect of corrosion on the tensile strength of Ni-Ti shape memory alloy is significant when the microstructure includes the martensite phase. Hence, the significant degradation of tensile strength observed for specimen B was probably caused by a synergistic effect of hydrogen absorption and corrosion.