Robert M. Purgert I.1. Historical background of United States’ AUSC Program I.2. Alloy selection I.3. Program successes and acknowledgements Pure nickel Zenon Pirowski II.1. General data II.2. Physical properties II.3. Chemical properties II.4. Mechanical properties Nickel-based alloys Jerzy Sobczak, Zenon Pirowski, Natalia Sobczak III.1. Synthesis of alloys III.2. Commercial alloys III.2.1. General classifications of nickel alloys III.2.2. Nickel superalloys III.2.3. Corrosion-resistant cast alloys III.2.4. Heat- and high temperature-resistant cast alloys High-temperature interaction between molten Ni alloys and refractory materials Natalia Sobczak, Robert M. Purgert, Rajiv Asthana, Jerzy J. Sobczak IV.1. State of the art IV.2. Materials IV.3. Methods and testing procedures IV.4. Nickel/oxide systems IV.4.1. Al/oxide and Ni/Al2O3 systems IV.4.2. Ni/MgO system IV.4.3. Ni/MgAl2O 4 system IV.4.4. Ni/Y 2O 3 system IV.4.5. Ni/YAP and Ni/YAG systems IV.4.6. Ni/Mg2SiO 4 system IV.4.7. Ni/ZrO 2 system IV.5. Conclusions and final remarks Melting and casting Zenon Pirowski, Zbigniew Stefański, Waldemar Uhl, Jerzy J. Sobczak V.1. Melting techniques V.1.1. Melting of nickel V.1.2. Melting of Ni-Cu alloys V.1.3. Melting of Ni-Cr-Fe alloys V.1.4. Melting of highly reactive Ni-based alloys V.2. Molding V.3. Pouring and casting techniques V.4. Casting defects and quality control Heat treatment and thermo-chemical treatment of cast nickel alloys Zenon Pirowski VI.1. Cast polycrystalline alloys VI.2. Directionally solidified and single-crystal alloys VI.3. Heat-resistant protective coatings