Relationships between strain, microstructure and oxide growth at the nano- and microscale

摘要

In the present article, the relationships between oxidation processes, surface strains and the microstructure of duplex stainless steels were investigated. Specimens were oxidized at 500 degrees C under secondary vacuum for 1 h to form a thin oxide film (thickness in the range of 20-50 nm). Such specimens were considered as the model system for developing novel methods of analysis in understanding the behavior of passive films. The interfacial strain field after oxidation was measured experimentally at the microscale using the point grid method. On the other hand, the chemical composition of the oxide film was determined at the submicroscopic scale by means of local scanning Auger spectroscopy (with a spot diameter of 50 nm). Local variations of the chemical composition of the oxide film were analyzed according to the specimen microstructure and the strain field. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.