TY - JOUR A1 - Zhao, H. A1 - Chakraborty, Poulami A1 - Ponge, D. A1 - Hickel, Tilmann A1 - Sun, B. A1 - Wu, C.-H. A1 - Gault, B. A1 - Raabe, D. T1 - Hydrogen trapping and embrittlement in high-strength Al alloys N2 - Ever more stringent regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from transportation motivate efforts to revisit materials used for vehicles. High-strength aluminium alloys often used in aircrafts could help reduce the weight of automobiles, but are susceptible to environmental degradation. Hydrogen ‘embrittlement’ is often indicated as the main culprit; however, the exact mechanisms underpinning failure are not precisely known: atomic-scale analysis of H inside an alloy remains a challenge, and this prevents deploying alloy design strategies to enhance the durability of the materials. Here we performed near-atomic-scale analysis of H trapped in second-phase particles and at grain boundaries in a high-strength 7xxx Al alloy. We used these observations to guide atomistic ab initio calculations, which show that the co-segregation of alloying elements and H favours grain boundary decohesion, and the strong partitioning of H into the second-phase particles removes solute H from the matrix, hence preventing H embrittlement. Our insights further advance the mechanistic understanding of H-assisted embrittlement in Al alloys, emphasizing the role of H traps in minimizing cracking and guiding new alloy design. KW - Atomistic models KW - Hydrogen KW - Metals and alloys KW - Mechanical properties PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-543631 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04343-z SN - 1476-4687 VL - 602 IS - 7897 SP - 437 EP - 441 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London AN - OPUS4-54363 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tehranchi, Ali A1 - Chakraborty, Poulami A1 - López Freixes, Martí A1 - McEniry, Eunan J. A1 - Gault, Baptiste A1 - Hickel, Tilmann A1 - Neugebauer, Jörg T1 - Tailoring negative pressure by crystal defects: Microcrack induced hydride formation in Al alloys N2 - Climate change motivates the search for non-carbon-emitting energy generation and storage solutions. Metal hydrides show promising characteristics for this purpose. They can be further stabilized by tailoring the negative pressure of microstructural and structural defects. Using systematic ab initio and atomistic simulations, we demonstrate that an enhancement in the formation of hydrides at the negatively pressurized tip region of the microcrack is feasible by increasing the mechanical tensile load on the specimen. The theoretical predictions have been used to reassess and interpret atom probe tomography experiments for a high-strength 7XXX-aluminium alloy that show a substantial enhancement of hydrogen concentration at structural defects near a stress-corrosion crack tip. These results contain important implications for enhancing the capability of metals as H-storage materials. KW - Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) KW - Hydrogen storage KW - Ab initio Simulation KW - Microcracks PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-587878 DO - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.7.105401 SN - 2475-9953 VL - 7 IS - 10 SP - 105401-1 EP - 105401-12 PB - American Physical Society (APS) AN - OPUS4-58787 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -