Observations on the oxidation behavior of Ni-Cr alloys containing minor additions of group III,IV, or V elements

The corrosion of a number of experimental ternary Ni-15 wt. % Cr-0.5wt. %X alloys (where X= Y, La, Ce, Sm, Th, U, Zr, or V) has been assessed in pure oxygen at 900° C for periods of exposure up to 450 hr, and compared with the behavior of an Ni-15% Cr control alloy. It has been established that while all of the alloys oxidize in accordance with a protective, approximately parabolic regime, considerable differences in oxidation rates are exhibited. In particular, additions of La, Ce, and Th bring about progressively enhanced rates of oxidation relative to the binary alloy, whereas Y, Sm, V, U, and Zr effect increasingly reduced rates of oxidation in the order given. The rate constant for the Th-bearing alloy is about two orders of magnitude larger than that for the alloy containing Zr. Such differences in behavior seem to be associated with subtle variations in the morphology/composition of the corrosion products from alloy to alloy. The observations are considered in the light of earlier published literature concerning the effects of rare-earth and other reactive elements on the oxidation behavior of Ni/Cr alloys.This work has been carried out with the support of Procurement Executive, Ministry of Defence.