High-temperature oxidation of a Ni-based superalloy was analyzed with samples taken from gas turbine blades, where the samples were heat-treated and thermally exposed. The effect of Cr/Ti/Al elements in the alloy on high temperature oxidation was investigated using an optical microscope, SEM/EDS, and TEM. A high-Cr/high-Ti oxide layer was formed on the blade surface under the heat-treated state considered to be the initial stage of high-temperature oxidation. In addition, a PFZ (γ’ precipitate free zone) accompanied by Cr carbide of Cr23C6 and high Cr-Co phase as a kind of TCP precipitation was formed under the surface layer. Pits of several μm depth containing high-Al content oxide was observed at the boundary between the oxide layer and PFZ. However, high temperature oxidation formed on the thermally exposed blade surface consisted of the following steps: ① Ti-oxide formation in the center of the oxide layer, ② Cr-oxide formation surrounding the inner oxide layer, and ③ Al-oxide formation in the pits directly under the Cr oxide layer. It is estimated that the Cr content of Ni-based superalloys improves the oxidation resistance of the alloy by forming dense oxide layer, but produced the σ or μ phase of TCP precipitation with the high-Cr component resulting in material brittleness.

Ni–Cr–Al metal-foam-supported catalysts for steam methane reforming (SMR) are manufactured by applying a catalytic Ni/Al2O3 sol–gel coating to powder alloyed metallic foam. The structure, microstructure, mechanical stability, and hydrogen yield efficiency of the obtained catalysts are evaluated. The structural and microstructural characteristics show that the catalyst is well coated on the open-pore Ni–Cr–Al foam without cracks or spallation. The measured compressive yield strengths are 2–3 MPa at room temperature and 1.5–2.2 MPa at 750oC regardless of sample size. The specimens exhibit a weight loss of up to 9–10% at elevated temperature owing to the spallation of the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. However, the metal-foam-supported catalyst appears to have higher mechanical stability than ceramic pellet catalysts. In SMR simulations tests, a methane conversion ratio of up to 96% is obtained with a high hydrogen yield efficiency of 82%.

This study attempts to manufacture a Ni-Cr-Al-Y coating layer using a kinetic spray process and investigates the microstructure and physical properties of the manufactured layer. The Ni-22Cr-10Al-1Y (wt.%) composition powder is used, and it has a spherical shape with an average diameter of 23.7 μm. Cu plate is used as the substrate. Optical microscope, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and Vickers hardness test are carried out to characterize the macroscopic properties of the coating layer. Furthermore, the coating layer underwent vacuum heat treatment at temperatures of 400˚C and 600˚C for 1 hour to check the effect of heat treatment temperature on the properties. The manufactured coating layer is 1.5 mm thick, and featured identical phases to those found in the powder. The porosity of the coating layer is measured at 2.99%, and the hardness is obtained at 490.57 Hv. The layer shows reduced porosity as heat treatment temperature increased, and hardness is reduced at 400˚C but shows a slight increase at 600˚C. Based on the findings described above, this study also discusses possible manufacturing methods for a Ni-Cr-Al-Y coating layer using the kinetic spray process.

This study investigated the microstructure and tensile properties of a recently made block-type Ni-Cr-Al powder porous material. The block-type powder porous material was made by stacking multiple layers of powder porous thin plates with post-processing such as additional compression and sintering. This study used block-type powder porous materials with two different cell sizes: one with an average cell size of 1,200 μm (1200 foam) and the other with an average cell size of 3,000 μm (3000 foam). The γ-Ni and γ’-Ni3Al were identified as the main phases of both materials. However, in the case of the 1,200 foam, a β-NiAl phase was additionally observed. The relative density of each block-type powder porous material, with 1200 foam and 3000 foam, was measured to be 5.78% and 2.93%, respectively. Tensile tests were conducted with strain rates of 10−2~10−4 sec−1. The test result showed that the tensile strength of the 1,200 foam was 6.0~7.1 MPa, and that of 3,000 foam was 3.0~3.3 MPa. The elongation of the 3,000 foam was higher (~9%) than that (~2%) of the 1,200 foam. This study also discussed the deformation behavior of block-type powder porous material through observations of the fracture surface, with the results above.