Comparison of thermal and vibration response to determine changes in modulus of elasticity in gamma titanium aluminides when galvanostatically charged with hydrogen

This research focuses on the experimental detection of damage schemes as means for quantifying the effect on gamma titanium aluminide (TiAl) beams which are galvanostitacally charged with hydrogen, modeled as a change in the original structural and thermal equivalent stiffness of the specimens. The effect of hydrogen in the samples is determined using vibration analysis techniques and thermal properties analysis. Estimates of the dynamically determined bulk modulus of elasticity are presented for different times of hydrogen charging, resulting in an estimated drop in the bulk modulus of elasticity. For the thermal case the convexity of the eigenvalue problem is shown in order to take advantage of these properties and show the possibility of quantifying damage by measuring the response of a system to a thermal load. Decreases averaging 3.8% in the estimated apparent modulus of elasticity and 13.5% in the estimated apparent heat conduction coefficient were found.