Modeling of Ni Diffusion Induced Austenite Formation in Ferritic Stainless Steel Interconnects

Ferritic stainless steel interconnect plates are widely used in planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) or electrolysis cell (SOEC) stacks. During stack production and operation, nickel from the Ni/YSZ fuel electrode or from the Ni contact component diffuses into the IC plate, causing transformation of the ferritic phase into an austenitic phase in the interface region.

This is accompanied with changes in volume and in mechanical and corrosion properties of the IC plates. In this work, kinetic modeling of the inter-diffusion between Ni and FeCr based ferritic stainless steel was conducted, using the CALPHAD approach with the DICTRA software. The kinetics of inter-diffusion and austenite formation was explored in full detail, as functions of layer thickness, temperature, time, and steel composition.

The simulation was further validated by comparing with experimental results. Growth of the austenite phase in commercial interconnect materials is predicted to take place under practical stack operation conditions. © 2015 ECS - The Electrochemical Society