Long-Term Cyclic Oxidation Behavior of Uncoated and Coated Re-108 and In-939 at 980 and 870 C

Very long-term cyclic oxidation behavior of Re-108 and ln-939 with and without a protective coating was evaluated at 980 and 870 C, respectively. Re-108 and ln-939 without a protective coating began to show rapid weight loss at 3000 h due to scale spallation, indicating the need for an oxidation protective coating for longer than thousands of hours of oxidative life. NiAl-base coatings of a vapor phase aluminide (VPA), a pack aluminide (CODEP), and a slurry paint aluminide (SERMALOY J) were applied on Re-108 and ln-939. VPA and CODEP on Re-108 and all three coatings on ln-939 showed excellent cyclic oxidation resistance out to 10000 hr. Coated alloys were annealed in an inert atmosphere to determine the loss of Al from the coating into the alloy substrate through diffusion. The Al loss from the coating through diffusion was twice as great as the Al loss through oxidation after 10000 h of cyclic exposure. Oxidation life of VPA-coated Re-108 was estimated by calculating the amount of Al initially available for protective oxidation and the amount of Al lost through oxidation and diffusion.