Synergy of Nanocrystallinity, Temperature, and "the Third Element Effect" for Uncommon Oxidation Resistance of Fe-Cr-Al Alloys

Nanocrystalline structure, oxidation temperature, and "The Third Element Effect" are among the factors that can profoundly govern the characteristics of the oxide scales that develop on oxidation-resistant alloys, thereby, their synergistic effect can considerably influence alloys' oxidation kinetics. As a result of the synergy, certain iron-chromium-aluminium (Fe-Cr-Al) alloy showed superior oxidation resistance at 800 °C than at 700 °C (whereas oxidation resistance commonly decreases with the increase in temperature). The superior resistance at higher temperatures is considerably enhanced when the structure of the alloy is nanocrystalline vis-à-vis the common microcrystalline structure. Nanocrystalline alloy oxidizes at a negligible rate (c.f., its microcrystalline counterpart). The characterization of the oxide scale demonstrates that the oxidation temperature governs the formation of the protective oxide scale with/without the assistance of the "Third element Effect". The findings may potentially have considerable commercial implications.