On the effect of Ti on Oxidation Behaviour of a Polycrystalline Nickel-based Superalloy

TL;DR

This study uses atom probe tomography to quantitatively analyze how titanium affects oxidation behavior in a nickel-based superalloy, revealing that titanium significantly promotes grain boundary diffusion and oxide scale growth.

Contribution

First atomistic-scale quantitative analysis of titanium's effect on oxidation in a polycrystalline nickel superalloy.

Findings

Titanium accelerates oxide scale growth via grain boundary diffusion.

Atom probe tomography provides detailed compositional insights.

Titanium's detrimental effect on oxidation resistance is confirmed.

Abstract

Titanium is commonly added to nickel superalloys but has a well-documented detrimental effect on oxidation resistance. The present work constitutes the first atomistic-scale quantitative measurements of grain boundary and bulk compositions in the oxide scale of a current generation polycrystalline nickel superalloy performed through atom probe tomography. Titanium was found to be particularly detrimental to oxide scale growth through grain boundary diffusion.