Micro-nanojauges design to monitor surface mechanical state during high temperature oxidation of metals with application to 17-4PH stainless steel

Determination of mechanical state of thermal oxide growing during high temperature oxidation is a challenge. Fabrication of nanogauges for monitoring during high temperature oxidation was presently investigated up to 1000 °C. Several materials were tested in terms of mechanical behaviour and maximum working temperature for gauges used as markers during thermal loading under air. The experimental determination of the optimized gauges material for high temperature oxidation was validated. SiO2 offers particularly interesting features for gauges to determine the mechanical state of metal/oxide system. In this article, a special attention has also been paid to two nano-fabrication processes, as well as their limits. The standard electron beam lithography process is well suited to build gauges for oxidation applications, and can be improved by use of reactive ion etching process. The gauges can eventually reach several micrometers height such that the oxidation layer does not cover the gauges during thermal loading for relevant monitoring at short oxidation times. To illustrate, an application to a 17-4PH stainless steel oxidized at 480 °C is proposed and stress kinetics are deduced and related to an advanced thermomechano-chemical model, as well as identification of the numerical values of different thermomechano-chemical parameters associated to mechanisms of growth or relaxation.