Cavitation Erosion Resistance Influence of Material Properties

Abstract

The cavitation erosion is the phenomena that causes degradation of fluid flow machinery components due to repetitive implosion of cavitation bubbles adjacent to the solid surface. Cavitation erosion is a complex phenomenon, which includes not only hydrodynamic factors of liquid, but also properties of erodible material e.g. microstructure, hardness or Young modulus. In order to reduce the negative impact of erosion on machine components, there are many methods to increase cavitation erosion resistance. The paper discusses the correlations between structural and mechanical properties and the resistance to cavitation erosion (CER) of pure materials, their alloys and coatings. Methods to increase CER have also been described - using heat / thermo-chemical treatment and application of coatings by various methods.