There has been steady progress in the development of wrought nickel–containing alloys for use in high temperature oxidizing environments . Contributing significantly to this progress is a growing knowledge base on the role of scales in enhancing oxidation resistance. Future improvements in oxidation resistance must build upon this understanding. This paper seeks to survey a portion of the wealth of information regarding scale characteristics of commercial wrought
nickel–containing alloys and how scales are influenced by environment and alloy composition. Some suggestions as to the future direction of alloy development with regard to scale optimization and increased oxidation resistance are proposed.
Keywords: Oxidation, scales, alloys, thermal processing, mechanisms