Protection of Zr Alloy under High-Temperature Air Oxidation: A Multilayer Coating Approach

Abstract

Metallic Cr and multilayer CrN/Cr coatings with a thickness of 2.5 µm were deposited onto E110 alloy by magnetron sputtering. Oxidation tests in air were performed at 1100 °C for 10–40 min. The gravimetric measurements showed better protective properties of multilayer CrN/Cr coatings in comparison with metallic Cr coating. Multilayer coating prevented fast Cr–Zr inter-diffusion by the formation of a ZrN layer beneath the coating. The appearance of ZrN is caused by interaction with nitrogen formed from the decomposition of CrN to Cr2N phases. Optical microscopy revealed a residual Cr layer for the multilayer CrN (0.25 µm)/Cr (0.25 µm) coating for all the oxidation periods. Additional in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies of coated alloy during linear heating up to 1400 °C showed that the formation of the Cr2Zr phase in the case of multilayer coatings occurred at a higher (~150 °C) temperature compared to metallic Cr. Multilayer coatings can decrease the nitrogen effect for Zr alloy oxidation. Uniform and thinner oxide layers of Zr alloy were observed when the multilayer coatings were applied. The highest oxidation resistance belonged to the CrN/Cr coating with a multilayer step of 0.25 µm.