Cyclic Oxidation of Heat Resisting Steels

Abstract

Standard cast, heat resisting steels containing 25–29 w/o (weight percent) chromium and 30–36 w/o nickel together with cast alloys containing 45 or 60 w/o nickel plus low levels of aluminium were subjected to cyclic oxidation in air at 1000 and 1150°C. The standard materials suffered rapid weight loss which was somewhat mitigated by the presence of cerium. The 45 w/o nickel alloys were much more resistant and the 60 w/o nickel alloys showed superior resistance to cyclic oxidation. This improvement was due to alumina formation at or near the alloy surface. In the absence of aluminium, alloys underwent subsurface chromium carbide oxidation at a rate independent of alloy chromium content. This effect is shown to be a consequence of rapid oxygen diffusion along internal phase boundaries.