Oxidation characteristics of the electron beam surface-treated Alloy 617 in high temperature helium environments

Abstract The oxidation characteristics of the electron beam surface-treated Alloy 617, which has an Al-rich surface layer, were evaluated in high temperature helium environments. Isothermal oxidation tests were performed in helium (99.999% purity) and VHTR-helium (helium of prototypical VHTR chemistry containing impurities like CO, CO2, CH4, and H2) environments at 900 °C for up to 1000 h. The surface-treated Alloy 617 showed an initial transient oxidation stage followed by the steady-state oxidation in all test environments. In addition, the steady-state oxidation kinetics of the surface-treated Alloy 617 was 2-order of magnitude lower than that of the as-received Alloy 617 in both helium environments as well as in air. The improvement in oxidation resistance was primarily due to the formation of the protective Al2O3 layer on the surface. The weight gain was larger in the order of air, helium, and VHTR-helium, while the parabolic rate constants (kp) at steady-state were similar for all test environments. In both helium environments, the oxide structure consisted of the outer transition Al2O3 with a small amount of Cr2O3 and inner columnar structured Al2O3 without an internal oxide. In the VHTR-helium environment, where the impurities were added to helium, the initial transient oxidation increased but the steady state kinetics was not affected.