Investigation on Cavitation Erosion Resistance of Copper Alloys and Development of a Cavitation Erosion Resistant

Copper materials are used in many fields of technology, some of them subject to high life-limiting stresses. One of the main stresses here is cavitation erosion. Material wear due to cavitation erosion is an unsolved problem in shipbuilding (e.g. propellers), in pump construction (e.g. wheels) and in control technology (e.g. throttle valves) and can lead to the failure of complete systems. In addition to constructional modifications, alloy development and optimization opens up new possibilities for increasing the operating life of cavitation erosion-loaded components. In the investigation of various commercially available copper materials, silicon brass (CuZnl6Si4-C) shows an excellent cavitation erosion resistance comparable to that of aluminium bronzes used in ship propeller construction. With the know-how that shape memory alloys (SM A) have excellent resistance to cavitation erosion due to their pseu-doelastic behaviour, the alloy CuZn35Sil is investigated with regard to its pseudoelasticity and cavitation erosion resistance. After suitable heat treatment, the desired property of CuZn35Sil can be demonstrated. © 2019 World of Metallurgy - ERZMETALL. All rights reserved.