Comparison of experimentally measured and theoretically predicted erosion rates of steels in slurries of low velocity

The predominant mechanism of weight loss for various kinds of steels in a low velocity slurry environment was evaluated to determine properties governing their weight loss. Erosion was the-main reason of the losses. The predominant erosion mechanism could change depending on the angle of particle impact and hardness of the steels even for the same impact velocity condition. In the case of high angle impact, the erosion rate showed good correlation with the erosion rate calculated by the equation Er=L(3) Delta epsilon/epsilon(c) where Er is the erosion rate, and Delta epsilon and epsilon(c) are the strain from each impact and the critical strain needed to cause material detachment, respectively. L is the length of the plastic deformation zone beneath the erosion surface. In the case of low impact angle erosion of lower hardness steels, the dominant mechanism is the same as the mechanism for high angle impact. Judging from the hardness distribution beneath the erosion surface and the erosion rates, the dominant mechanism could be fatigue in low angle impact of higher hardness steels.