Abstract
It is suggested that, during the oxidation of stainless steels, matter is conserved at the oxide-metal interface by the creation of a dynamic balance between the chromium diffusion fluxes in the alloy and in the oxide. It is shown that the rate of oxidation is insensitive to alloy composition so that a necessary consequence is that the rate-controlling process is always diffusion through the oxide. In addition, the interfacial concentration of chromium remains invariant with time at a value higher than that in thermodynamic equilibrium with the oxide. Some of the predictions made with regard to the depth and kinetics of growth of chromium-depleted zones within the alloy have been checked experimentally inoxidation tests in CO2 at 1123° K on a 20Cr-25Ni stainless steel containing a dispersion of TiN particles. It is concluded that the matter-conservation hypothesis is valid for this material.
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Evans, H.E., Hilton, D.A. & Holm, R.A. Chromium-depleted zones and the oxidation process in stainless steels. Oxid Met 10, 149–161 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612157
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612157