Resistance of Nanostructured Fe-Cr Alloys to Oxidative Degradation: Role of Zr and Cr Contents

This article investigates the effect of grain size and Cr concentration on the oxidation resistance of nanocrystalline Fe-Cr alloys having varying Cr contents between 2 and 10 wt pct. The results have been compared with microcrystalline Fe-Cr alloys with 10 and 20 wt pct Cr. Pellets of nanocrystalline and microcrystalline Fe-Cr alloys were prepared by mechanical alloying followed by hot compaction and sintering, and then oxidized at 823 K (550 °C) for 150-hours. Oxidation kinetics was determined by measuring the weight gain during oxidation, and the post-oxidation characterization of the oxide scales was performed using secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The chromium content at the inner oxide scale of nanocrystalline Fe-Cr alloys (with >7 pct Cr) was found to be comparable with that of microcrystalline 20 pctCr alloy, which suggests that nanocrystalline grain size distribution can be exploited to develop highly oxidation resistant alloys with much lower amounts of expensive alloying element (Cr). A mechanistic understanding of the high temperature oxidation in nanostructured alloys has been presented and the critical amount of bulk Cr content required to form a protective chromia layer has been calculated. The paper also investigates the role of a reactive element Zr on the high temperature oxidation resistance of nanocrystalline Fe-Cr. The beneficial effect is more pronounced at low bulk Cr (2 to 4 pct) concentrations (compared to higher Cr (>7 pct) concentration), however, at low bulk Cr, insufficient Cr enrichment occurs to establish a protective chromium oxide layer.