Influence of humidity on high temperature oxidation of Inconel 600 alloy: Oxide layers and residual stress study

In order to understand the influence of humidity on high temperature oxidation of Inconel 600 alloy, in this work, water vapour (absolute humidity varying from 0% to 19%) was introduced in the thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) system under artificial air between 600 °C and 900 °C. The oxides identification and the residual stress in the oxide layers have been studied by X-ray diffraction method in each of two oxide phases, simultaneously. The oxide surface morphology, cross-section microstructure and the chemical composition of the oxide layers were determined by FEG-SEM (Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscope) observation and FEG-SEM EDS (Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) analysis. Depending on the oxidation temperature, the humidity and the oxidation duration, the oxide layer differed significantly. The residual stress levels in the different oxide layers (NiO-type layer and Cr2O3-type layer) have also been affected by the introduction of the water vapour. According to the analysis results, the residual stresses on oxide mainly came from the growth stress and thermomechanical stress; and the oxide growth stress was especially affected by humidity at high temperature.