Effect of Ta on the Oxidation Resistance of a Cast Nickel-Base Die Material with Low Cr and High W Content
A conventional cast nickel-base superalloy with the chemical composition of Ni-16W-2Mo-1.5Cr-6Al wt % has been recently developed as isothermal forging die material operating at temperatures above 1000°C. The oxidation test results showed that the oxide scale spalled heavily after exposure in air at 1050°C for 100 h, which is unacceptable for the process of isothermal forging. To improve the high temperature oxidation resistance, 3 wt% Ta was added into the alloy. Specimens after oxidation test were analyzed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The results showed that the oxides were mainly NiO, NiWO4, and NiAl2O4 for all the samples. The oxidation resistance of the alloy with 3wt%Ta was fairly good at 1050°C with the mass gain rate of around 0.016g/m2•h and spallation of oxides less than 2g/m2 within 100h.The SEM results showed that a continuous protective layer of Al2O3 has been formed under the layer of NiO for the alloy containing Ta.