High temperature oxidation behavior of thermal and plasma processed aluminide coated Ti6Al4V alloys

In this study, the high temperature cyclic oxidation behavior of thermal and plasma-treated aluminide coated Ti6Al4V alloy was investigated at 800 °C up to 360 h in 24 h cyclic exposures. The microstructural characteristics, phase analysis, morphological features, and microhardness of resultant oxidized samples were evaluated and compared with those of untreated Ti6Al4V alloy. The weight gain studies conducted from the cyclic oxidation tests revealed very minimal weight gain in plasma treated (PT) aluminide coated samples as compared to the thermal treated (TT) and uncoated (UC) samples. XRD results indicate that the UC samples oxidized at 800 °C exhibits the formation of a thick oxide layer consisting of only the rutile phase (TiO 2 ). The TT and PT samples oxidized at 800 °C revealed presence of both alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) and rutile (TiO 2 ) phases. However, PT samples revealed stable α-Al 2 O 3 phase whereas the TT samples showed metastable θ-Al 2 O 3 phases in the oxide layer. The surface morphological features reveal that the oxide film formed on the surface of the PT samples had enough stability at 800 °C irrespective of the oxidation time. The PT samples exhibited higher hardness and improved oxidation resistance as compared to TT and UC samples. Increase in thermal stability, mechanical and oxidation properties of PT samples could be attributed to the formation of stable alumina (α-Al 2 O 3 ) and presence of nanocrystalline aluminide phases (TiAl 3 & TiAl 2 ) in the diffusion layers during the oxidation tests. Therefore, a strong emphasis was placed on correlating the interfacial processes to the high temperature oxidation behavior. • The cyclic oxidation behavior of thermal & plasma treated aluminide coatings was investigated. • The plasma treated coatings exhibit remarkable protection against the oxidation at 800 °C. • Plasma processing yields nanocrystalline Ti Al diffusion zone, which is believed to support improved oxidation resistance. • Plasma treated aluminide coatings could be salient solution for high temperature aerospace applications.