Preparation and investigation of aluminized coating and subsequent heat treatment on 9Cr–1Mo Grade 91 steel

Highlights: • Hot dip aluminizing and heat treatment was carried out on 9Cr–1Mo Grade 91 steel. • Sample heat treated at 650 °C showed Fe₂Al₅ phase and at 750 °C showed Fe₂Al₅/FeAl. • Samples heat treated at 950 °C showed FeAl/α-Fe(Al). • The scratch test showed the best result with 950 °C/5 h + 750 °C/2 h sample. • α-Al₂O₃ and γ-Al₂O₃ were present on the surface of the samples treated at 950 °C. - Abstract: Iron aluminide inner coating with alumina top layer is being considered as a potential solution for tritium permeation barrier and mitigating MHD pressure drop for liquid metal blanket concepts in the fusion reactor systems. Hot-dip aluminizing with subsequent heat treatment seems to offer a good possibility to produce aluminized coating with alumina top layer. 9Cr–1Mo Grade 91 steel samples were hot dipped in Al melt containing 2.25 wt% of Si at 750 °C for 3 min. Heat treatment was performed at 650, 750 and 950 °C for 5 h; samples were either air cooled or furnace cooled. Coatings have been evaluated by SEM, EDX, X-ray diffraction, microhardness, scratch adhesion and Raman spectroscopy. The thickness of the layers and phases formed were influenced by the heat treatment adopted. Fe₂Al₅ was the major phase present in the samples heat treated at 650/750 °C, whereas FeAl and α-Fe(Al) primarily made up the outer and inner layers respectively in the samples heat treated at 950 °C. Cooling method deployed affected the hardness. Air cooled samples had comparatively higher hardness than furnace cooled samples. The scratch test showed the adhesion for the samples heat treated at 950 °C was much better as compared to the samples heat treated at 650/750 °C. Raman spectroscopy analysis showed the presence of both α-Al₂O₃ and γ-Al₂O₃ on the surface of the samples heat treated at 950 °C, while Fe₃O₄ was present in the furnace cooled sample only