The effect of silicon on the oxidation behavior of NiAlHf coating system

Two types of NiAlHf coatings doped with different content of Si (1 at.% and 2 at.%) were deposited on a Ni ₃ Al based single crystal superalloy IC32 by electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) method, respectively. For comparison, NiAlHf coating with 0 at.% Si was also prepared. The oxidation tests were carried out at 1423 K in air. At the initial stage of oxidation, large amount of flake-like θ-Al ₂ O ₃ was found on NiAlHf coating surface. However, no θ-Al ₂ O ₃ was observed in 2 at.% Si doped NiAlHf coating except α-Al ₂ O ₃ . It revealed that the Si additions could contribute to the transformation from θ-Al ₂ O ₃ to α-Al ₂ O ₃ . When oxidation time prolonged to 100 h, it was found that the degradation of NiAlHf coating was very severe with no residual β-phase, which was due to the serious inter-diffusion between the coating and substrate. In contrast, the inter-diffusion in Si-doped coating was reduced with some residual β-phase and R-Ni(Mo, Re) precipitates. The presence of Si could retard the inter-diffusion of elements between coating and substrate, indicating a barrier diffusion effect. As a result, the oxidation resistance of NiAlHf coating was improved significantly.