Effect of compressive stresses on oxidation kinetics and oxide scale failure of pure nickel at 973 K

The effect of a compressive stress on the oxidation kinetics and oxide scale failure of pure nickel was investigated. Compressive samples were subjected to stresses of 10 and 20 MPa, and the oxidation behaviour was studied at a temperature of 973 K. This study was performed mainly by comparisons of oxidation kinetics, surface morphology and cross-section of the oxidised samples. The results showed that applying a compressive stress induced an increase in the oxidation rate, and changes of the surface morphology. Compared with the samples without any applying stress, the oxide scale failure for the samples subjected to applying stresses was changed. This was related to the effect of compressive stresses on the vacancy diffusion.