Chemical-mechanical failure of oxide scales on 9% Cr steels in air with H2O

Abstract

The oxidation behaviour of 9% Cr steels P91 and Nf616 has been investigated at 650°C in dry air and in air with water vapour, where particular attention was given to breakaway failure. Additional emphasis was given to the quantitative characterisation of the kinetics of chromium depletion in the metal subsurface zone resulting from scale growth, CrO₂H₄ evaporation, and scale cracking and healing, with scale cracking being monitored by acoustic emission measurements. While in dry air the steels show protective oxidation behaviour up to 10000 h, breakaway oxidation may occur already after 100 h in humid environments, which was correlated with the stronger Cr-depletion and the development of intrinsic oxide scale growth stresses exceeding a critical value, in the case of water vapour containing air. In the paper the different parameters that are responsible for breakaway oxidation were identified and discussed with regard to the role of water vapour in the environment. As a conclusion it turns out that breakaway is not a consequence of Intrinsic Chemical Failure (InCF) but of a Mechanically Induced Chemical Failure (MICF).