Life Extension of Furnace and Fixture Alloys by Surface Engineering in Carburizing Atmospheres

摘要

The heat-treating industry is in need of heat-treatment furnace materials and fixtures that have a long service life and reduced heat capacity. In this paper, RA330, RA602CA, 304L, Inconel 625 alloys were selected to study their performance in an industrial carburizing furnace for times up to one year. These alloys were exposed in both the as fabricated and aluminized condition. The test samples were exposed to 0.7%C carburizing atmosphere at approximately 900°C for 3 months, 6months, and 12months. In this paper the microstructural development of both aluminized and unaluminized alloys during the prolonged exposure in the carburizing environment will be presented and discussed. It was found that the weight gain for the aluminized alloys was uniformly less than the as-fabricated alloys.