Abstract
Niobium and tantalum alloys have excellent properties for use in high-temperature, space-power applications, but must be protected from oxidation that would result from exposure to air in ground-evaluation tests. The oxygenuptake/oxidation rates of three alloys, Nb-1Zr, PWC-11, and ASTAR-811C were measured at oxygen partial pressure of 10−6 and 10−7 torr at temperatures up to 1350 K. No visible oxide film was observed, and the oxidation rate was found to be linearly proportional to pressure and exponentially proportional temperature. A thin molybdenum coating on Nb−1Zr was a barrier to lowpressure oxidation at 773 K.
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DiStefano, J.R., Hendricks, J.W. Oxidation rates of niobium and tantalum alloys at low pressures. Oxid Met 41, 365–376 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01113371
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01113371