Erosion behaviour of ductile materials with a spherical non-friable erodent

Abstract

Erosion experiments were carried out on two ductile materials, copper and Cu-6%Al alloy, with an aim to study the dependence of the erosion rate on the impact angle with spherical non-friable steel shot as the erodent. The experiments were carried out at impact angles of 30°, 60°, and 90°, at an impact velocity of 40 m s⁻¹. The results indicate that the erosion rate is greatest at normal impact for the spherical erodent, in contrast with the general observation that the maximum erosion rate in ductile materials occurs at oblique impact. Scanning electron microscopy examination revealed that lip formation and lip fracture are the operating mechanisms of material removal at all impact angles studied. The experimental findings are rationalized using the localization model.