We investigated the ef fect of hydrogen absorption conditions on hydrogen desorption behavior of Ni-Ti superelastic alloy with cathodic hydrogen charging in 0.9 NaCl solution. The amount of desorbed hydrogen at low temperature (200) increased with increasing cathodic current density. It is likely that the increment of the amount of desorbed hydrogen at low temperature was due to the increment of the amount of hydrides formation. Vickers hardness in the vicinity of the surface of the alloy also increased with increasing cathodic current density. This is probably due to the hydrides formation in the vicinity of the surface of the alloy. These results suggest that hydrogen concentration in the vicinity of the surface of the alloy increased with increasing cathodic current density, i. e., increasing the amount of generated hydrogen per unit time, thereby causing the acceleration of hydrides formation.

Background: It is important to investigate the mechanism for the hydrogen embrittlement of Ni-Ti superelastic alloy in acidic fluoride solutions so that the reliability and safety of the alloy as a dental device can be improved. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of aging at room temperature on the hydrogen embrittlement behavior of Ni-Ti superelastic alloy immersed in acidic fluoride solution. Methods: Specimens were immersed separately in 50 mL of 0.2 % acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) solution with pH 5.0 at room temperature for 16 h. The hydrogen-charged specimens were aged for various periods at room temperature in air to adjust the hydrogen distribution. Results: The specimen that was tested immediately after immersion in 0.2 % APF solution fractured near the critical stress for martensitic transformation without martensitic transformation. The tensile strength of the immersed specimen was partially recovered by aging at room temperature for 24 h. In addition, the tensile strength of the specimen immersed in 0.2 % APF solution was completely recovered by aging at room temperature for 240 h. Conclusions: After aging at room temperature for 24 h, the tensile strength of the immersed specimen was partially recovered. In addition, the tensile strength of the specimen immersed in 0.2 % APF solution was completely recovered by aging at room temperature for 240 h. These results indicate that the mechanism for the hydrogen embrittlement of Ni-Ti superelastic alloys aged at room temperature after immersion in 0.2 % APF solution is dependent on the aging time.

Background: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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.

We investigated differences in the hydrogen thermal desorption mechanism for Ni-Ti superelastic alloys following hydrogen charging by cathodic charging in a 0.9% NaCl aqueous solution and by immersion testing in a 0.2% APF aqueous solution. For the immersed specimen, the presence of corrosion products on the surface resulted in an upward shift of the hydrogen desorption peak by approximately 100 °C. When the total amount of desorbed hydrogen was almost the same for both specimens, a higher fraction was desorbed at temperatures below 200 °C for the cathodically charged specimen. Furthermore, a larger amount of hydride was formed for the cathodically charged specimen. These results indicate that the hydrogen thermal desorption mechanism depends on the presence of corrosion products on the surface and the amount of hydride formed.