High-pressure hydrogen tanks which are composed of an aluminum alloy liner and a carbon fiber wound layer are currently the most popular means to store hydrogen on vehicles. Nevertheless, the aluminum alloy is easily affected by high-pressure hydrogen, which leads to the appearance of hydrogen embrittlement (HE). Serious HE of hydrogen tank represents a huge dangers to the safety of vehicles and passengers. It is critical and timely to outline the mainstream approach and point out potential avenues for further investigation of HE. An analysis, including the mechanism (including hydrogen-enhanced local plasticity model, hydrogen-enhanced decohesion mechanism and hydrogen pressure theory), the detection (including slow strain rate test, linearly increasing stress test and so on) and methods for the prevention of HE on aluminum alloys of hydrogen vehicles (such as coating) are systematically presented in this work. Moreover, the entire experimental detection procedures for HE are expounded. Ultimately, the prevention measures are discussed in detail. It is believed that further prevention measures will rely on the integration of multiple prevention methods. Successfully solving this problem is of great significance to reduce the risk of failure of hydrogen storage tanks and improve the reliability of aluminum alloys for engineering applications in various industries including automotive and aerospace.

The 6xxx aluminum alloy is the first choice for automotive lightweight forgings due to its excellent performance, high strength and low weight. The production time of current aluminum alloy forging generally exceeds 10 h. To reduce the production time of traditional aluminum alloy forgings, 6082-T6 aluminum alloy is used in the forming process. The effects of different heating temperatures (200 °C, 300 °C, and 400 °C) and deformation degrees (30%, 50%, and 70%) on the deformability and properties of 6082-T6 billets have been investigated. The results show that when the heating temperature is higher than 300 °C, the compressive deformation resistance obviously decreases with increasing strength. With compression at 200 °C and 70% deformation with short heating time, the strength of the sample is close to the T6 (solution treatment and artificial aging) state. A large number of dislocations and subgrains were introduced due to the compression deformation, and their amounts decreased as the heating temperature increased. The size of the precipitated phase β′′ slightly grows under a heating temperature of 200 °C. However, when the heating temperature is higher than 300 °C, the precipitated phase gradually changes from β′′, which is optimal for the strengthening effect, to β′ and β, which offer weaker strengthening. Therefore, under a lower heating temperature of 200 °C for 5 min, a large number of dislocations are introduced with the β′′ precipitated phase, leading to higher strength with less heat treatment time.

Among available processing technologies of heat-treatable aluminum alloys such as the 2219 aluminum alloy, the use of both friction stir welding (FSW) as joining technology and electromagnetic forming (EMF) for plastic formation technology have obvious advantages and successful applications. Therefore, significant potential exists for these processing technologies, both of which can be used on the 2219 aluminum alloy, to manufacture large-scale, thin-wall parts in the astronautic industry. The microstructure and mechanical properties of 2219 aluminum alloy under a process which compounded FSW, heat treatment, and EMF were investigated by means of a tensile test as well as via both an optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results show that the reduction of strength, which was caused during the FSW process, can be recovered effectively. This can be accomplished by a post-welding heat treatment composed of solid solution and aging. However, ductility was still reduced after heat treatment. Under the processing technology composed of FSW, heat treatment, and EMF, the forming limit of the 2219 aluminum alloy decreased distinctly due to the poor ductility of the welding joint. A ribbon pattern was found on the fractured surface of welded 2219 aluminum alloy after EMF treatment, which was formed due to the banded structure caused by the FSW process. Because of the effects of induced eddy current in the EMF process, the material fractured, forming a unique structure which manifested as a molten surface appearance under SEM observation.