Aluminium and silicon base coatings for high temperature alloys—Process development and comparison of properties

Abstract

Abstract The paper is concerned with systematic studies on the formation of overlay coatings on nickel and iron base superalloys to improve their resistance against high temperature oxidation and hot corrosion. In contrast to the simpler case of aluminizing nickel base alloys, the problems arising in aluminizing iron base superalloys and in siliconizing nickel base alloys have not yet been solved. A new and economical coating procedure is presented, which involves a reaction sintering process of unalloyed powder mixtures to obtain overlay coatings. The influence of the compositions of the layer and the substrate on the chemical compatibility of the whole layer composite is described in detail. It is shown that overlay coatings containing high concentrations of silicon can only be applied on nickel base superalloys if elements that are able spontaneously to form reaction barriers are present within the substrate alloy ( e.g. aluminium) or in the as-preformed interlayer. Refractory metals have proved to be the most advantageous. To obtain a ductile coating, silicon-rich donor phases in the form of isolated precipitates were incorporated into a matrix containing low concentrations of silicon. These coating systems can also be applied to improve the aluminization of iron base alloys. The high temperature oxidation and corrosion behaviours of the coated samples were tested in burner gas or air at 1000°C and in molten salts at 900°C.