It has been known for some time that the addition of small oxide particles to an 80 Ni—20 Cr alloy not only increases its elevated-temperature strength, but also markedly improves its resistance to oxidation. The mechanism by which the oxide dispersoid enhances the oxidation resistance is being studied collaboratively by ORNL and INCO Alloy Products Company.Initial experiments were performed using INCONEL alloy MA754, which is nominally: 78 Ni, 20 Cr, 0.05 C, 0.3 Al, 0.5 Ti, 1.0 Fe, and 0.6 Y2O3 (wt %).Small disks (3 mm diam × 0.38 mm thick) were cut from MA754 plate stock and prepared with two different surface conditions. The first was prepared by mechanically polishing one side of a disk through 0.5 μm diamond on a syntron polisher while the second used an additional sulfuric acid-methanol electropolishing treatment to remove the cold-worked surface layer. Disks having both surface treatments were oxidized in a radiantly heated furnace for 30 s at 1000°C. Three different environments were investigated: hydrogen with nominal dew points of 0°C, —25°C, and —55°C. The oxide particles and films were examined in TEM by using extraction replicas (carbon) and by backpolishing to the oxide/metal interface. The particles were analyzed by EDS and SAD.
