Oxidation Behavior of Silicon-Aluminizing Coating on γ-TiAl Alloy at Different Temperatures

In this research, a silicon-aluminizing diffusion coating constituted of homogenous Ti(Al, Si)3 phase was prepared on γ-TiAl alloy using cold spraying Al-40Si (wt.%) alloy coating followed by thermal diffusion treatment. The oxidation behavior of the diffusion coating was tested for 300 h at high temperatures of 900, 950 and 1000 °C. The differences in microstructure evolution at three different temperatures, as well as antioxidant properties of the coating, were investigated. The results showed that the weight gain of the coating after 300-h oxidation at 900, 950 and 1000 °C was sharply reduced to only 1.195, 1.550 and 1.925 mg cm−2, respectively. Although the alumina-based oxide scale formed on the coating became thicker with the increasing oxidation temperature, it had a good adherence to the coating even at 1000 °C. Thus, the coating can significantly improve the oxidation resistance of the γ-TiAl alloy at three temperatures because the generated oxide scale can act as a barrier to prevent the outward diffusion of Ti and the internal diffusion of O. The degradation rate of the coating also increased with the increasing oxidation temperature. Following 300 h of oxidation test at 1000 °C, the homogenous Ti(Al, Si)3 phase in the coating almost entirely degraded. However, the in situ formed Ti5Si3 diffusion layer maintained a good stability at 1000 °C, which can block the further invasion of O to a certain extent.