Aluminide coatings were produced on carbon steel and Fe-5Cr-Mo alloy at a relatively lower temperature below 600 8C in shorter treatment time by a combination of surface refinement process and pack aluminizing process. Repetitive ball impact, generated by mechanical vibration, caused the toplayer refinement of substrates in a conventional pack aluminizing process. The effects of temperature and treatment time on the formation of aluminide coatings were analyzed. The microstructure of the coatings was investigated by SEM, AFM and XRD. The aluminide coatings were one-layer, compacted structure with ultrafine grains and uniform elemental distribution. High-temperature oxidation and sulphidation tests were carried out at 600 degrees C in air for 200 h and 10% SO2 + Ar gasmixture atmosphere for 50 h, respectively. The mass gains and spallation indicated that the aluminide coatings significantly improved the high-temperature oxidation and sulphidation resistance. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.