Review of Several Studies on High Temperature Oxidation Behaviour and Mechanism of Austenitic Stainless Steels

Three studies on the oxidation behaviour of austenitic stainless steels were described in the present paper. (1) High temperature oxidation behaviour and its mechanism in austenitic stainless steels with high silicon: Sulfur contained as impurity in steel showed a harmful influence to the oxidation resistance of 19Cr-13Ni-3.5Si stainless steels. It was found that the abnormal oxidation was caused from the surroundings of MnS inclusions. (2) Effect of a small addition of yttrium on high temperature oxidation resistance of Si-containing austenitic stain less steels: The oxidation resistance of 19Cr-10Ni-1.5Si steels was improved remarkably even with only 0.01%Y addition, which is the same concentration as added for de-oxygenation. Y was enriched at the grain boundary of oxide scale and metal-oxide interface. It was suggested that Y-containing steels shoed good oxidation resistance, because the enriched Y at the grain boundary and metal-oxide interface prevented the diffusion of iron and oxygen ions through the oxide scale. (3) Effect of grain size on the oxidation behaviour of austenitic stainless steels: Type 304, 316 and 310 steels with finer grain size showed better oxidation resistance than those with coarser grain size at 850 degrees C. The oxide scale of steels with coarser grain size easily spalled during the cooling process.