A study on the solubility and distribution of carbon in oxides

Isothermal oxidation treatments were carried out on an Fe-C alloy (0.4 % C): (a) in almost dry air around A1, and also with an Fe-C alloy (0.5% C) and IRSID pure iron; (b) in dry air (
 
$${\text{P}}_{H_2 O} \simeq 10^{ - 5} $$

 nm Hg); (c) in almost dry air(1–2% water vapor) at 700° C; and (d) in moist air (31% water vapor). Theresults are as follows: The rate of oxidation at a temperature below A1depends chiefly on alloy structure, i.e., on thermal history of the sample.The water vapor content of the air strongly influences the scale adherenceas well as the rate of oxidation of the Fe-C alloys below A1, but has virtuallyno effect on the rate of oxidation of pure iron. Under the same conditions, avery light decarburization of metal occurs in air, whereas no decarburizationoccurred in air with 13% water vapor.

The oxidation and decarburizing of Fe-C alloys in air and the influence of relative humidity

Fe-C alloys containing 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0% C were oxidized in 1 atm O2 at 500°C. Two specimen preparations were used: annealed followed by slow cooling to form coarse pearlite plus proeutectoid ferrite or cementite; and cold-worked by abrading after annealing. The cold-worked alloys oxidize more rapidly. Annealed pearlite oxidizes faster than annealed ferrite. The differences in oxidation rate are caused by differences in the Fe3O4 grain size, that is, by the number of oxide grain boundaries available to act as easy diffusion paths for the outward diffusion of Fe through the Fe3O4. The oxidation rate constant is 10 times larger for fine-grained poly crystalline oxide than for oxide in which the Fe3O4 is monocrystalline.

Oxidation of Fe-C alloys at 500°C

The oxidation behavior of Fe-C alloys in the temperature range 600–850°C has been studied. CO2evolved during oxidation was measured using an infrared gas analyzer. The presence of C lowers the oxidation rate relative to that of pure Fe and this has been related to the rejection of carbon at the alloy-scale interface causing poor contact between scale and alloy. As a result, the scale contains a higher proportion of magnetite, which reduces its overall growth rate. Very little carbon is lost to the atmosphere. The ease with which the rejected carbon is incorporated into the alloy depends on the alloy structure.

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J. Manenc

Papers

Etude de la solubilite du carbone dans le protoxyde de fer