Visualization of Hydride in Titanium and Titanium-Aluminide by Refraction-Enhanced X-ray Imaging Technique

Refraction-enhanced X-ray imaging method using extremely parallel X-ray beams from a so-called third generation synchrotron radiation source was applied to observe titanium-hydride in titanium and titanium-aluminide polycrystals. Hydride in titanium was formed by an annealing in 1 atm hydrogen gas and electrolyticcharging for cross-sectional observation. Although the hydride in titanium cannot be observed by conventional radiography that utilizes absorption of X-rays, we visualized a high-contrast projection image of hydride using refraction-contrast radiography. This is a promising new technique for non-destructive inspection in bulk material systems with only small differences between refraction indexes such as hydride in titanium.