INTERACTION OF CAO-FEO-SIO2 SLAGS WITH PARTIALLY-STABILIZED ZIRCONIA

Calcia- and magnesia-partially-stabilized zirconia samples were corroded under static and dynamic conditions in three slags from the CaO-FeO-SiO2 system. Low-basicity and high-FeO slags corroded the samples by leaching magnesia from the cubic phase in the specimen, causing its destabilization and ultimate dissolution. However, a higher-basicity slag which proved the most corrosive of the three promoted bulk dissolution of the cubic phase instead, the rate of which was controlled by the thickness of the adjacent slag boundary layer. The levels of sample corrosion both at and below the slag line are used to illustrate the effects of experimental variables, including slag composition, specimen density, and slag motion.