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Oxide Films on Alloy Steels

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Abstract

IN a recent communication1, T. Tokumitu concludes that the naturally occurring oxide film on stainless steels is ±-(Fe,Cr)2O3, and he bases this conclusion upon the fact that heating the natural oxide layer to 600° C. for one hour suffices to change the electron diffraction pattern from one of blurred rings which cannot be analysed, to a well-defined pattern of ±-(Fe,Cr)2O3. The crystalline structure adopted by the film on heating, however, may very well be different from that of the natural oxide, and even the chemical composition may be changed, since, unless the heating is carried out in an exceedingly good vacuum or its equivalent, the film may gain oxygen, and also, as Pfeil2 has shown in the case of thick scales, diffusion of metal atoms towards the oxide surface occurs at high temperatures.

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References

  1. Tokumitu, T., NATURE, 145, 589 (1940).

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  2. Pfeil, J. Iron and Steel Inst, No. 1, 501 (1929).

  3. Jackson and Quarrell, Second Report of the Alloy Steels Research Committee, Special Report No. 24, Section 4, Iron and Steel Institute, 1939.

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QUARRELL, A. Oxide Films on Alloy Steels. Nature 145, 821–822 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/145821b0

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