Characterization of Solid Particle Erosion Resistance of Ductile Metals Based on Their Properties

Abstract

This paper presents experimental results pertaining to spherical glass bead and angular crushed glass particle impingement. A concept of energy absorption to explain the failure of material is proposed and is correlated with the erosion characteristics of several pure metals. Analyses of extensive erosion data indicate that the properties—surface energy, specific melting energy, strain energy, melting point, bulk modulus, hardness, atomic volume—and the product of the parameters—linear coefficient of thermal expansion × bulk modulus × temperature rise required for melting, and ultimate resilience × hardness—exhibit the best correlations. The properties of surface energy and atomic volume are suggested for the first time for correlation purposes and are found to correlate well with erosion rates at different angles of impingement. It further appears that both energy and thermal properties contribute to the total erosion.