Water-vapor-effect on the oxidation of Fe-21.5 wt.%Cr-5.6 wt.%Al at 1000°C

Fe-21.5 wt. %Cr-5.6 wt. %Al oxidation, at 1000°C, in dry or wet oxygen shows that steam has an influence on the oxide-scale growth mechanism. Steam modifies the kinetics of early-stage oxidation. In dry oxygen, an initial fast linear regime is observed during one hour. Under wet conditions, weight-gain curves follow the same parabolic regime over the entire oxidation test. The scale structure strongly depends on the presence of steam in the gaseous environment. With dry oxygen, the scale is composed mainly ofα-Al2O3 after the initial formation ofγ-Al2O3 identified by ESCA and RHEED. The kinetics transient stage corresponds to the necessary time for the internal part of the initialγ-Al2O3 scale to transform into a continuousα-Al2O3 diffusion barrier. Under wet oxygen conditions, transient oxides are identified as (Mg, Fe) (Cr, Al)2O4, MgAl2O4 (orthorhombic), Al2O3 (hexagonal), these oxides transform into MgAl2O4 (cubic), Cr3O4, Fe2O3,α-Al2O3, with time. When water vapor does not change drastically oxidation kinetics, the induced presence of iron and chromium in the oxide scale could be responsible for weakening the protectiveness of alumina scales.