Effects of Cr and Al on High Temperature Oxidation Resistance of Nb-Si System Intermetallics

The effects of Cr and Al on high temperature oxidation resistance of Nb-Si system intermetallics have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and weight gain method. The results showed that the high temperature oxidation resistance can be substantially improved by proper Cr or Al addition. The further analysis revealed that Cr promotes the formation of CrNbO4 in scale and improve the adherence between the oxide scale and the substrate. It also found that Al improves the surface morphology of oxide scale and changes oxidation products by promoting the AlNbO4 formation.