Role of Ultrasonic Shot Peening in Environmental Hydrogen Embrittlement Behavior of 7075-T6 Alloy

The effect of ultrasonic shot peening on the environmental hydrogen embrittlement behavior of the 7075-T6 aluminum alloy is investigated. The 7075-T6 tensile specimens were treated by ultrasonic shot peening for 50 s. Surface residual stress and the depth of residual stress under the surface were evaluated using an X-ray diffractometer. Then, the specimens were tensile tested in humid air and dry nitrogen gas by the slow strain rate technique. The results showed that the ultrasonic shot-peened specimen has a superior hydrogen embrittlement resistance. Further, the ultrasonic shot peening changes the fracture mode from an intergranular fracture mode to the transgranular one. It was suggested that ultrasonic shot-peening has two effects on hydrogen embrittlement behavior; the distribution of hydrogen inside the surface layer by introducing dislocations/vacancies as hydrogen traps and reducing the normalized amount of hydrogen trapped per unit length of the grain boundary.