Reduction of deuterium permeation through DIN 1.4914 stainless steel (MANET) by plasma-spray deposited aluminium

The paper describes the formation of a permeation barrier on DIN 1.4914 (MANET) martensitic stainless steel by plasma spraying aluminium on the surface of the steel, followed by heat treatment of the sample to form Al 3Fe and Al 5Fe 2. Vacuum plasma spraying was chosen because it ensures that the sample will be exposed to low temperatures during the Al layer deposition and will not interfere with the heat treatment that MANET has to undergo in order to produce a homogeneous, fully martensitic structure. Measurements of the permeation rate of deuterium in the bare and aluminium-deposited MANET were performed by a gas permeation technique over the temperature range 573–743 K and for driving deuterium pressures in the range 3–50 kPa. Such measurements showed a reduction of the permeation rate between two and three orders of magnitude and there was evidence that surface reactions were the rate governing process.