A systematic testing procedure to investigate the influence of oxide morphology, composition and thickness on changes in the high temperature oxidation kinetics of AISI 316L stainless steel

A systematic testing procedure has been employed to investigate the high temperature oxidation kinetics of AISI 316L. Thermo-gravimetric (TG) analysis was carried out at 950°C, 1050°C, 1150°C and 1250°C for 8h. Alongside this, isothermal furnace treatments were carried out on samples of the same material at the same temperatures for time periods of 0.5h, 1h, 2h, 4h and 8h. Changes in oxidation kinetics were observed on mass gain curves plotted from data derived from the TG analysis. When a change in oxidation kinetics was identified, the structure, thickness and composition of the oxides formed on the isothermal treatment samples at time periods before and after the change occurred could be studied. It was found that this systematic testing procedure provided a great deal of useful information allowing more meaningful conclusions to be made on the influence of oxide layer thickness, structure and composition on high temperature oxidation kinetics.