The influence of implanted silicon on the cyclic oxidation behaviour of two different stainless steels

High-temperature alloys are frequently used in power plants, gasification s ystems, the petrochemical industry, combustion processes and in aerospace a pplications. Depending on the application, materials are subjected to conta minated atmospheres and/or thermal cycling. Thermal cyclic experiments were carried out in order to study the influence of implanted silicon on the ad herence of the scale. The effect of silicon was tested on two different sta inless steels in air at 1173 K. The oxidized specimens were characterized b y means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS). The experimental results confirm that silicon implantation at a nominal dos e of 10(16) Si ions cm(-2) does not play a significant role on the cyclic o xidation behaviour of the austenitic AISI 304 steel in air at 1173 K. Howev er, it appears to enhance the oxidation resistance of the ferritic AISI 430 at oxidation cycles longer than 250. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Scienc e S.A. All rights reserved.