Cyclic oxidation behavior of uncoated and aluminized stainless steels

High temperature corrosion resistant alloys are widely used for furnace fixtures in heat treatment processes. Aluminizing can be used to increase the high temperature oxidation and carburization resistance of stainless steels. To experimentally investigate the bond strength of the protective oxide to the coating and the coating to the substrate, cyclic oxidation experiments were conducted on the uncoated and aluminized stainless steels. The samples were cycled to 900C in air for one hour and quenched in oil or cooled in air. The weight of samples was measured before each cycle. The oxidation properties and oxide development at high temperatures will be presented. In addition, adherence of alumina scale during cyclic oxidation experiments at elevated temperature will be presented. These samples were characterized using optical and scanning electron microscopy, EBSD, and x-ray diffraction.