Influence of cerium, zirconium and boron on the oxidation resistance of heat-resistant steels in air

Isothermal and cyclic oxidation experiments were carried out in air to investigate the influence of the minor elements such as Cerium, Zirkonium and Boron on the oxidation resistance of heat resistant ferritic and austenitic steels like X10Cr18, X10CrAl18 and X15CrNiSi2012. In the case of cyclicexperiments samples were exposed at constant temperatures for 100 h and then cooled to R.T. This cycle was repeated 10 times. The corrosion was determined as weight change and was continuously measured by a thermo-balance. The distribution of the alloying elements on the phase boundary scale/steel was examined by Scanning-Electron-Microscope. Addition of small amounts of Ce (0.3 wt-% max.) could reduce the oxidation rate in the case of isothermal and cyclic conditions. Zirkonium concentrations below 0.1 wt-% could have a beneficial effect, but at higher concentrations the oxidation rate increases with increasing amounts of Zr. Small Boron concentrations of 0.02 wt-% lead to catastrophic oxidation at temperatures above 10000C. (orig.)