Kinetics and Microstructural Investigation of High-Temperature Oxidation of IN-738LC Super Alloy

The present study was carried out to investigate the kinetics and the surface chemistry of the oxide layers formed on the IN-738LC super alloy during high-temperature oxidation at 950 °C in air from 1 to 260 h. Oxidation kinetics were studied by mass gain measurement. The oxide layers were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope, elemental distribution map, energy-dispersive spectroscopy as well as x-ray diffractometry (XRD). The oxidation kinetics followed the parabolic law. The XRD analysis revealed that the oxide scale contained mainly NiO, Ni (Cr, Al)2O4, Al2O3, TiO2 and Cr2O3. The oxide structure, from the top surface down to the substrate, was clarified by elemental map distribution studies as Ni-Ti oxides, Cr-Ti oxides, Cr2O3 oxide band, Ni-Co-Cr-W oxide and finally a blocky Al2O3 region. The oxidation scales were composed of three distinct layers of the outer and mid layers enriched by TiO2 and Cr2O3, NiCr2O4 oxide, respectively, and the innermost layer was composed of Al2O3 and matrix alloy. The depleted gamma prime layer was formed under the oxidation scales due to the impoverishment of Al and Ti which were induced by the formation of Al2O3 and TiO2.