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A study of the effect of solid particle impact and particle shape on the erosion morphology of ductile metals
Author(s) -
Rao P. Veerabhadra,
Young Stanley G.,
Buckley Donald H.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1984.tb04648.x
Subject(s) - materials science , scanning electron microscope , bead , composite material , aluminium , impact crater , brass , particle (ecology) , erosion , energy dispersive x ray spectroscopy , particle size , metallurgy , copper , paleontology , oceanography , physics , chemistry , astronomy , biology , geology
SUMMARY Studies were conducted to identify the differences in the modes of erosion between impulsive and steady‐jet glass bead erodent particle impingement at normal incidence. A 6061‐T6 aluminium alloy, copper and 1045 steel were used as test materials. A small bore or calibre gas gun apparatus was used for impulse testing and a commercial sand blasting facility was used for steady‐jet impingement testing. Crushed glass was also used as an erodent in the steady‐jet apparatus and the erosion patterns from crushed glass were compared with those of glass bead impingement erosion. Morphological features and material removal mechanisms for the specimens were studied using weight, loss measurements, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), and surface profilometry. Impulsive conditions induced more severe damage and results in embedment and fragmentation of glass beads, likely due to more intense pressure pulses and longer loading times on impact. Patterns from steady‐jet glass bead impingement experiments exhibited overlapping of plastically formed craters with very little evidence of particle fragmentation. Recorded profiles and micrographs of the specimens subjected to steady‐jet impingement indicate that crushed glass induced deeper and wider pits than glass beads. The volume loss of 1045 steel was almost half that observed on aluminium and copper specimens with both types of erodent particles. The material removal process for glass bead impingement appears to be in the form of deformation induced fatigue failure with flake‐like debris visible at high magnification. With crushed glass, material appears to have been removed as small chips, leaving a jagged, angular, faceted surface characteristic of ‘cutting wear’. EDS analyses indicated traces of silicon (from the erodent particles) on all three materials. Silicon amounts were maximum at the pit bottom.