Plasma sprayed Cr3C2-NiCr/fly ash cenosphere coating: cyclic oxidation behavior at elevated temperature

Oxidation is one of the major degradation phenomena observed in components subjected to higher temperatures like in thermal power plants (boiler tubes), steam and gas turbines blades etc. Developing protective coatings for such components mitigate oxidation. In the present study, plasma spray technique is utilized to deposit the Cr3C2-NiCr/Cenospheres coating on MDN 321 steel substrate. Thermo cyclic oxidation test is conducted at 600 degrees C (20 cycles) on both the coating and MDN 321 steel substrate. The thermogravimetric methodology is employed to estimate the oxidation kinetics. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), x-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and x-ray mapping technique is employed to characterize the oxidized samples. Cr3C2-NiCr/Cenosphere coating displayed lower rate of oxidation as compared to substrate implying its suitability in high-temperature applications. Protective oxides like Al2O3, Cr2O3, and NiCr2O4 are observed on the uppermost layer of the coating lowering the oxidation rate in the developed coating.