Corrosion resistant ceramic coating for X80 pipeline steel by low-temperature pack aluminizing and oxidation treatment

In this paper, we discuss the formation of ceramic coatings by a combined processing of low-temperature pack aluminizing and oxidation treatment on the surface of X80 pipeline steel substrates in order to improve the corrosion resistance ability of X80 pipeline steel. First, Fe-Al coating consisting of FeAl₃ and Fe₂Al₅ was prepared by a low-temperature pack aluminizing at 803 K which was fulfilled by adding zinc in the pack powder. Pre-treatment of X80 pipeline steel was carried out through surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). Further oxidation treatment of as-aluminized sample was carried out in the CVD reactor at 833 K under oxygen containing atmosphere. After 1 h duration in these conditions, ceramic coating consisting of α-Al₂O₃ was formed by in situ oxidation reaction of Fe-Al coating. Those coatings have been characterized by different techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscope (EDS), respectively. Ceramic coating shows a dense and uniform microstructure, and exhibits good coherences with X80 pipeline steel substrates. By electrochemical corrosion test, the self-corrosion current density of X80 pipeline steel with as-obtained ceramics coating in 3.5% NaCl solution shows an obvious decrease. The formation of α-Al₂O₃ ceramic coating is considered as the main reason for the corrosion resistance improvement of X80 pipeline steel.