Effect of Rare Earth Oxides (Y2O3, Nd2O3) on Oxidation Kinetics of Al-Li base alloy

Abstract

The oxidation of Al-Li base alloy containing smallamounts of rare earth (RE) oxides such as Y2O3 andNd2O3 particles has been studied at temperaturesbetween 300°Cand 550°C. The lithium is selectivelyoxidized in Al-Li alloys and the parabolic rateconstants for the growth of the resulting oxides layerLi2O, LiAl5O8, Li2CO3 and Li5AlO4 are about anorder of magnitude higher than those for growth ofoxides on alloy (Al-Li) with RE oxides. Alloys usedin this study were prepared by melting and casting ina permanent steel mould under controlledatmosphere.It was found that 0.2%Y2O3 containing alloyspossess the lowest oxidation rate and show greatimprovements in oxidation resistance compared tothe base alloy.Oxides found on base alloy are subjected tocracking and spalling during thermal shock at hightemperature i.e. 500°Cand 550°C. Identification ofoxidation kinetics was carried out by using weightgain measurements while scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction analysiswere used for microstructural morphologies andphase identification of the oxide scales. The weightgain measurement results suggest that the oxidationkinetic of all studied alloys follows the parabolic lawin most experimental tests under the differenttemperatures except at 300°C oxidation kineticfollows almost a logarithmic rate law.

Keywords

Material, metal