High-temperature oxidation and aqueous corrosion performance of ferritic, vacuum-sintered stainless steels prealloyed with Si

The corrosion behavior at high-temperature and the aqueous corrosion behavior of sintered stainless steels manufactured from non-commercial prealloyed powder (434L with 2% Si) are studied and their results are compared with those of sintered stainless steels manufactured from commercial 434L powder, that has lower Si content. Both types of powders have been sintered in vacuum at three different temperatures, so materials with different porosity levels have been obtained. Several oxidation tests have been carried out from 700 to 1000 °C. Long-term experiments have proven the better oxidation resistance of 434L + 2% Si steels. Electrochemical measurements of the corrosion rate show a decrease on this parameter caused by the increase of Si-content on powders.