Papers by Author: Hidetoshi Umeda

Abstract: The effect of the annealing atmosphere, the annealing temperature etc. on the hydrogen behavior in several Al-4% Mg alloys during heat treatment, was investigated. The results have shown that the hydrogen content in the as-cast slab is uniform, while the hydrogen content in the slab tends to be higher near the surface than in the interior after annealing. Such a tendency becomes more marked when annealing time is prolonged and Si and Fe content is lowered. The condensation of hydrogen near the surface can be seen only when it is annealed in a wet atmosphere. When annealed in a dry atmosphere, the hydrogen content near the surface becomes lower than in the center of the specimen. The hydrogen in Al-Mg alloys tends to be released to outside intrinsically at temperatures around 400°C and above. It is revealed that oxide film formed on the surface prevents the hydrogen from being released to outside.

Abstract: The effect of heat treatment conditions such as atmosphere, temperature, annealing time and alloying elements on the hydrogen content in Al-Mg based alloys was investigated. The hydrogen content after annealing depends on the annealing atmospheres and alloying elements. When annealed in a wet atmosphere, the release of the hydrogen in the Al-Mg alloys to outside and the absorption of hydrogen from atmosphere into Al-Mg alloys are presumed to occur at the same time. The oxide layer on the surface is revealed to prevent the hydrogen from being released to outside. The spheroidal MgO particles can be seen on the surface of Al-Mg alloys after annealing at 550°C. The number of the MgO particles increases with increasing impurity elements such as Si and Fe, reducing the shielding effect against hydrogen permeration. Therefore, the condensation of hydrogen near the surface after annealing occurs more easily in an Al-Mg alloy of a high-purity than that of an ordinary purity.