Abstract
High purity iron and a low carbon, low silicon steel were oxidised at temperatures of 800–1,200 °C, in atmospheres of N2–H2–H2O and N2–O2–H2O. Scales of wüstite grew at low oxygen potentials, and of FeO/Fe3O4/Fe2O3 at high oxygen potentials, both according to parabolic kinetics after an initial transient period. The iron and steel behaved similarly in the O2/H2O gases, but not in H2/H2O, where the steel oxidised much more slowly than the iron. The rate for steel increased with \( p_{{H_{2} O}} \) at fixed \( p_{{O_{2} }} , \) but for iron was almost independent of \( p_{{H_{2} O}} , \) whilst rates for both metals increased with \( p_{{O_{2} }} \) at fixed \( p_{{H_{2} O}} \). These results are discussed using point defect models involving hydroxyl anions and cation vacancies. Scaling rates in O2/H2O also increased with \( p_{{H_{2} O}} , \) a result attributed to gas phase transport within oxide pores which were present in the scales, but absent in wüstite grown in H2/H2O.
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Financial support from the Australian Research Council and BlueScope Steel is gratefully acknowledged.
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Young, D.J., Yin, H. Water Vapour Effects on FeO Scale Growth: Differences Between Iron and Steel. Oxid Met 79, 445–460 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11085-012-9337-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11085-012-9337-z