Catastrophic oxidation of metals

The review deals with the current state of the problem of catastrophic oxidation of metals ('hot corrosion') caused by formation of a liquid corrosion product in a multi-component system. The kinetics, thermodynamics, and mechanisms of the two stages of accelerated oxidation of metals, namely, fast and super-fast stages, are considered with the copper–bismuth oxide system as an example. It is shown that the fast stage is caused by the formation of a liquid-channel grain boundary structure in the corrosion product, while the super-fast stage is caused by the high rate of dissolution of the oxide layer. The results of studies of the interaction of liquid phase with two-dimensional defects (grain boundaries) in solids are generalised. A model of catastrophic oxidation of metals is proposed. The bibliography includes 104 references.