Title: Study of the Behavior in Oxidation at High Temperature of Ni, Co and Fe-Base Alloys Containing Very High Fractions of Carbides
Abstract: Nine cast alloys reinforced by very high fractions of carbides, Ni-30Cr-xC, Co-30Cr-xC and Fe-30Cr-xC with x varying from 1.2 to 2.0, were tested in oxidation at high temperature between 1,000 and 1,200°C in air for 50 hours. After oxidation, their surfaces and sub-surfaces were characterized. Even for very high carbon contents, the chromia-forming behaviour of the nickel alloys is kept. The oxidation modes of the cobalt alloys and iron alloys are not changed compared to low carbon alloys of these families. The differences of diffusion easiness of chromium in matrix, between nickel alloys, cobalt alloys and iron alloys are the same as for alloys with lower carbon contents, as suggested by the lower chromium gradients in the nickel alloys compared to the two other alloy types. Sub-surface microstructure transformations due to oxidation were observed in some cases (coarsening of carbides due to an inwards diffusion of carbon, change of the sharing between BCC-FCC of iron matrix due to outwards diffusion of chromium). Catastrophic oxidation never occurred for these alloys during the 50 hours of exposition to air at high temperature.