Erosion characteristics of stainless steels under different percentage of SiC- Al2O3-Fe2O3 solid particles

Abstract

This research work investigates the erosion effect on the surfaces of SS (Stainless Steel) 201, SS 304, SS 316 and SS 420 under different operating conditions. Beside this, the novelty of this work is to observe the combined effects of different percentage of SiC- Al2O3-Fe2O3 solid particles on the surfaces of these materials and significant findings are obtained. The results collected from this study are validated with the morphological analysis of erosive surfaces which is attributed to the real wear mechanism. To characterize the eroded surfaces, this mechanism is associated with the micro-cutting, micro-plowing, plastic deformation and several other materials removal processes. During the experiments, the impact angles are maintained at 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75° and 90°. The erosion rate is higher at 60° impact angle and then the abrasion is sharply decreased up to up to 90°. However, the erosion varies differently with the variation of impact angles for different tested materials. The erosion rates under impact velocity 40, 50 and 60 m/s are tested. The higher the impact velocity, the higher the erosion rate is noted despite the levels of erosion changes are different for different materials. The enhancement of erosion with the impact velocity is linked with the increase of kinetic energy which in turn is responsible for the increase of temperature. The combined impact of kinetic energy and temperature effects the location of the examined surfaces of stainless steels. But as the stainless steels have the better mechanical and physical properties, these show better erosion resistance in comparison of other polymer and composite materials. It is also observed the higher test duration and larger particle size have some role to increase the erosion rate. The results of this work are compared with the works of other researchers and the trends of these results are explained with the possible causes. The results of this work can be used as a reliable source for the applications of advanced technology in industry.