Hydrogen embrittlement of the 7B05‐T5 aluminum alloy for high‐speed trains

The effect of hydrogen cathodic charging on the mechanical behavior of the 7B05-T5 aluminum alloy has been studied. The hydrogen susceptibility of the 7B05-T5 aluminum alloy was evaluated by slow strain rate tensile testing. The tensile tests revealed that the ductility of the 7B05-T5 aluminum alloy decreased when charged cathodically for 96 hr with a constant current density of 2 mA/cm(2). The charged 7B05-T5 aluminum alloy exhibited pitting corrosion at the surface layers and brittle intergranular fracture at the deeper layers of the alloy. The decrease in the ductility of the aluminum alloy was attributed to hydrogen-reducing atomic binding force.