NiCrAlY, Ni 3 Al and Stellite-6 metallic coatings were deposited on a Ni-based . NiCrAlY was used as bond coat in all the cases. Hot corrosion studies were conducted on uncoated as well as plasma spray coated superalloy specimens after exposure to molten salt at 900°C under cyclic conditions. The thermogravimetric technique was used to establish kinetics of corrosion. X-Ray Diffraction, SEM/EDAX and EPMA techniques were used to analyse the corrosion products. The uncoated superalloy suffered a catastrophic corrosion in the form of intense spalling of the scale accompanied by disintegration of the scale with cracking sounds. NiCrAlY coated specimen showed a minimum weight gain, whereas the Stellite-6 indicated a maximum weight gain among the coatings studied. All the coatings were found to be successful in reducing spalling of the superalloy substrate. It is concluded that the formation of oxides and spinels containing nickel, aluminium, chromium or cobalt contributes to an improved hot corrosion resistance.KEY WORDS: hot corrosion; plasma spray coatings; superalloy; NiCrAlY; and protective coatings.ronments consisting of different compositions of Na 2 SO 4 , K 2 SO 4 , NaCl, KCl salts in oxidising as well as reducing atmospheres of mixed gases. Singh and Prakash 17) studied the corrosion behaviour of plasma-sprayed Ni 3 Al coatings on boiler steels in oxidation and molten salt environments at 900°C and found these coating quite effective in developing hot corrosion resistance.The MCrAlY bond coats provide a rough surface for mechanical bonding of the ceramic top coat, protect the underlying alloy substrate against high temperature oxidation corrosion and minimize the effect of thermal expansion mismatch between the substrate and the ceramic top coat materials.
18)Although considerable insight has been accumulated on oxidation behaviour of NiCrAlY and Ni-20Cr coatings and to some extent of Ni 3 Al coatings on Ni-base superalloys in air as well as in aggressive environments at high temperatures, but no information is available on the high temperature oxidation behaviour of these coatings in an aggressive environment of molten salt (Na 2 SO 4 -60 %V 2 O 5 ), which has much lower melting point (Ϸ500°C) than other compositions of Na 2 SO 4 -V 2 O 5 mixtures as per the open literature.
19)Similarly the investigation will provide vital information on the hot corrosion behaviour of plasma spray Stellite-6 coatings, which will be useful for studying its use in combined corrosion and wear situations. Uusitalo et al. 15) have also realized that there is a little discussion of high temperature corrosion testing on thermal sprayed coatings in literature. Moreover, due to the intrinsic properties of thermal spraying technique, it must be emphasized that more work is needed in order to get a reliable corrosion resistant coating in many environments.
20)The objective of the work is to characterise the high temperature corrosion mechanisms for plasma spray metallic coatings of NiCrAlY, Ni-20Cr, Ni 3 Al and Stellite-6 on a ...