Extension and Application of Oxidation and Oxide Spallation Mechanisms to the Selection of Automobile Emission Control Hardware

The basic principles of oxidation and oxide spallation are extended in order that the cyclic oxidation behavior of constitutionally complex alloys can be predicted with minimal experimental input. The analytical predictions are applied to many ferritic stainless steels, austenitic stainless steels, and nickel-base alloys, and are found to be in qualitative agreement with experimental results. Based on the extended principles of oxidation and oxide spallation, general guidelines are developed for the selection of cyclic, oxide spallation resistant alloys. These guidelines are used to rank alloys according to their potentials as automobile emission control exhaust materials.