Ro. Srinivasan et Jj. Lannutti, ALUMINUM AND REACTIVE ELEMENT ADDITIONS TO CHROMIUM STEEL FIBERS FOR OXIDATION RESISTANCE IN SURFACE COMBUSTION, Surface & coatings technology, 87-8(1-3), 1996, pp. 54-60
Radiant burners have traditionally been made from ceramic fibers and r
eticulated ceramics. Metal fiber burners (MFBs) are a recent innovatio
n. MFBs are currently made using fine FeCrAl alloy fibers, modified to
include a small amount (similar to 0.1 wt.%) of a reactive element (R
E), e.g., yttrium. The choice of RE modified FeCrAl alloy is due to th
eir excellent oxidation resistance under both isothermal and cyclic ox
idation conditions, FeCrAl alloy fibers for MFBs are currently made us
ing sophisticated drawing techniques. The fibers are pressed to the re
quired dimensions and porosity of the MFB and sintered to provide pad
strength. We are investigating a different method for producing MFBs t
hat begins with chromium steel fibers and diffuses aluminum and a reac
tive element into these fibers using pack cementation. The advantage o
f this method is that the compositional modification of the fibers to
the FeCrAl alloy composition and their sintering can be accomplished s
imultaneously. In this paper we present experimental details and some
preliminary results obtained using this technique. Starting with loose
chromium steel fibers, we were able to produce small fiber pads of Fe
CrAl composition. We also observed that the fibers always sintered tog
ether during diffusion providing sufficient strength to the pad. RE is
required only at the surface of the fiber. In mosi of our experiments
we detected RE at the surface of the fiber. On the basis of these exp
erimental results and observations we conclude that pack cementation i
s a viable technique for producing MFBs from chromium steel fibers.