Wear 233–235 Ž1999.

674–684
www.elsevier.comrlocaterwear

The erosion of four materials using seven erodents — towards an

understanding
Z. Feng ) , A. Ball
Department of Materials Engineering, UniÕersity of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

In order that an overview of the erosion process be obtained, solid particle erosion tests on four materials have been performed using
seven different erodents within a range of particle diameters D Ž63 to 1000 mm., velocities V Ž33 m sy1 to 99 m sy1 . and impact angles
a Ž308 to 908.. The materials are glass, alumina, WC–7% Co and 304 stainless steel. Seven erodents are steel shot, glass beads, silica,
alumina, tungsten carbide, silicon carbide and diamond particles. Systematic studies of the influence of the impact variables on the
erosion rate have been made. Scanning electron microscopy of the eroded surface and the erodents after impact has been performed.
Empirical correlations between erosion rate and the parameters of erodents are obtained and discussed in terms of the modes and
mechanisms of erosion. An analysis of these results reveals that for brittle materials, glass and alumina, the erosion rate is determined by
kinetic energy, particle size and the relative hardness and toughness of erodents. However, for ductile materials, the shape and kinetic
energy of erodents are the most important factors determining the erosion rate. There is no significant effect of hardness and toughness of
erodents on erosion. An attempt to rationalise the results in terms of mechanisms has been made. q 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights
reserved.

Keywords: Erosion; Glass; Stainless steel; Alumina; Tungsten carbide; Kinetic energy

1. Introduction The effect of velocity and particle size exponent has

It is well known that there is a dramatic difference for
ductile and brittle materials when the weight loss in ero-
sion is measured as a function of the angle of impact w1x.
Various mechanisms w2–5x have been proposed which
explain these erosion phenomena of material removal.
There is general agreement that materials can be charac-
terised as responding in either a ductile or brittle mode.
Modes and mechanisms of erosion of brittle materials such
as glass and polycrystalline ceramic alumina have been
proposed, relating erosion rate to the properties of erodent
and target w6–10x. Two elastic–plastic theories have been
developed to explain the erosion of brittle materials w11,12x.
Both are based on the assumption that lateral cracks grow
in a quasi-static manner as a result of residual stresses
introduced by the impact event. Both theories predict that
the erosion rate is proportional to the power–law relation.
However, there is no way of knowing if the exponents are
correct since no systematic experimental results are avail-
able.
)
Corresponding author
also been investigated by several researchers. Previous
work by Finnie et al. w13x indicated that the velocity
exponent is about 6 for glass impacted with nearly spheri-
cal steel shot. Verspui w14x indicated that the experimental
velocity exponent is 4.36 and 3.86 for glass impacted by
spherical glass beads and angular alumina erodents, respec-
tively. However, Buijs and Pasmans w15x indicated that the
value of velocity exponent is 2.4 for glass impacted with
alumina particles. Recently Slikkerveer et al. w16x per-
formed the erosion of glass using alumina erodents with a
range of particle sizes Ž9–200 mm. and particle velocities
Ž20–300 m sy1 .. They indicate that the erosion rate per
particle is proportional to the kinetic energy of the particle
raised to power 1.23. They found that the velocity expo-
nent and particle size exponent are 2.46 and 3.69, respec-
tively. As can be seen, the value of velocity and size
exponent varies from experimenter to experimenter. Thus
more experiments are required using various erodents with
different sizes and velocities.
The modes of material removal for alumina ceramics
are categorised as lateral cracking, transgranular fracture or
intergranular fracture in terms of the properties of targets
and erodents. Vaughan and Ball w17x performed the erosion

0043-1648r99r$ - see front matter q 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 4 3 - 1 6 4 8 Ž 9 9 . 0 0 1 7 6 - 3
 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684
tests on six ceramics and indicated that the fragile and
defective alumina materials suffer massive damage by the
process of lateral spallation, while the tough ziconias
absorb energy by plastic processes and provide good ero-
sion resistance. The effect of relative hardness values of
the erodent particles and the target is also observed to be
important by some researchers w17,18x. In general, it is
found that the lateral-crack-based erosion mechanisms op-
erate for harder erodents. For softer erodents, it is hypothe-
sised that damage accumulation is necessary in order to
build up the requisite stresses to produce lateral cracks. In
particular, the erosion rates can increase significantly when
erodent particle to target hardness ratio Hp : Ht increases
above Hp : Ht s 1.
Stainless steels, as a typical ductile material, have been
characterised as eroding by ductile modes by several inves-
tigators over the last decade w19–21x. Some researchers
w20,22x investigated the steady state erosion behaviour of
304 stainless steel eroded by sharp alumina particles. It is
proposed w21,22x that the erosion behaviour of stainless
steel is controlled by a single plastic shear deformation
mechanism which controls material displacement within a
process zone for a general set of impact events operative at
all impact angles. However, it is clear that a single mecha-
nism cannot fully account for the total material erosion
with all shapes and sizes of impinging particles w23x.
Attempts w3,4,24,25x have also been made to correlate the
erosion rate of 304 stainless steel with particle velocity and
target properties. The correlation of erosion rate with
velocity varies widely and the value of the velocity expo-
nents reported in the literature w3,4,24,25x ranges from 1.1
to 3.4. The effects of target hardness on erosion rate have
been explored by a number of investigators w3,23,26x.
Finnie w23x states that erosion is inversely proportional to
the penetration hardness. Hutchings w24x indicated that the
erosion rate is independent of the hardness changes due to
the high strain rate of the erosive process during impact.
The effect of particle shape has also been studied in detail
by Winter and Hutchings w27x. They introduced the term
‘‘rake angle’’ that denotes the angle between the front face
of the particle to the normal to the target surface. This
angle is dependent on the particle shape. For a spherical
particle, the rake angle is always large and negative. They
showed that a difference in rake angle caused a change in
erosion mechanism — from a ploughing or smearing type
of impact crater with large rake angles to a cutting mecha-
nism at small rake angles. Angular particles are generally
found to cause a greater proportion of cutting type of
material removal. However, Budinski w28x performed the
single impact tests on copper and steel materials using
angular particles and spherical particles which indicated
that the particle shape is not important.
Several researchers w29–31x investigated the erosive
behaviour of cobalt based tungsten carbide and proposed
various mechanism of material removal. Ball and Patetson
w29x observed that cobalt below 10 wt.% the erosion is
675
controlled by WC skeleton. Above 10 wt.%, erosion is
controlled by the strength and toughness of the binder. At
10 wt.%, the cobalt has low toughness and the WC
skeleton is fragile and discontinuous. Wright et al. w30x
observed a trend of decreasing erosion loss with decreased
binder content to a minimum binder level of 7.1%. For
high binder levels, erosion appears to occur mainly by
preferential removal of the binder phase, while the WC
grains undergo only minor erosion that results in blunting
of sharp corners or edges. The type of erosion response for
high binder levels is characterised as ductile mode. The
type of erosion for low binder types is characterised as a
brittle mode. However, there is no systematic study on the
effect of various erodents with different properties on the
target.
The objective of the present study is to identify the
erosive behaviour of these four materials, to investigate the
effects of particle property, particle shape, particle velocity
and impingement angle on the erosive behaviour of these
materials and to establish the quantitative correlations that
relate erosion rate with properties of erodents. The study is
focused on quantifying the erosivity of glass as a function
of erodents in an attempt to understand the mode and
mechanism of the erosion. The erosion tests were con-
ducted on WC–7% Co, 304 stainless steel and alumina for
comparative purposes.
2. Experimental details
A conventional gas blasting type of apparatus was used
for the solid particle erosion. The equipment was designed
to feed abrasive particles into a high velocity air stream,
which propelled the particles against the specimen surface.
The particle mass feed rate was controlled by adjusting the
speed of the rotating table in the manner devised by
Shipway and Hutchings w32x. The average velocity in the
airstream at the specimen position was measured by means
of the rotating disk methods w33x. An opto-electronic flight
timer w32x was used to calibrate the velocity measured by
double rotating disk. Measurements of the steady state
erosion rate were made as a function of the erodent size
and velocity at a particle feed rate of approximately 0.17 g
sy1 . Velocities range from 33 m sy1 to 99 m sy1 . The
impingement angles range from 308 to 908. The seven
erodents used for this solid particle erosion study were
steel shot, glass beads, silica, alumina, tungsten carbide,
silicon carbide and diamond erodent particles which are
shown in Fig. 1. Table 1 presents the measured densities
and the shapes of the erodents as determined using the
scanning electron micrographs ŽSEM. of Fig. 1. This table
shows the erodent particles in order of increasing hardness.
However, the toughness and hardness data for the erodent
particles are not available because the particles are too
small to be measured quantitatively. The bulk material
values are presented. The four target materials are 304
stainless steel, glass, alumina, WC–7% Co. The harnesses
676 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684

Fig. 1. SEM micrographs of erodents: Ža. steel shot Ž400–500 mm. Žb. glass beads Ž63–106 mm. Žc. SiO 2 Ž106–125 mm. Žd. Al 2 O 3 Ž106–125 mm. Že.
WC Ž212 mm. Žf. SiC Ž106–125 mm. Žg. diamond Ž106–125 mm..

of these four materials are 210, 540, 1023, 1350, respec-
tively. The grain sizes for alumina and WC are 3.5 mm and
2.3 mm, respectively.
To achieve a uniform erodent particle size, six kinds of
particles were sieved into standard size fractions according
to British standard BS 410. The erodents, glass beads,
silica, alumina and silicon carbide are in the size ranges:
63–106 mm, 106–125 mm, 180–250 mm, 400–500 mm,
600–700 mm and 800–1000 mm. The diamond erodents
have three sizes 126 mm, 151 mm and 181 mm. The sizes
 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684
Table 1
Summary of properties of the erodent particles
Erodent particles Hardness ŽHV.
Steel shot 286
Glass beads 540
Silica 1100
Alumina 1800
Tungsten carbide 2200
Silicon carbide 2500
Diamond 8000
for the tungsten carbide erodents are 125–180 mm and 212
mm. The size of the steel shot is 400–500 mm.
A plot of the weight lost by the target sample vs. gram
of erodent is constructed and the steady state erosion rate
is defined as the slope of the straight line relationship and
given as mass loss per gram of erodent in grg. The mass
loss per gram of erodent is then converted to volume loss
per gram of erodent Ž Eg . in cm3rg to facilitate compari-
son of target materials with different densities. The volume
loss per particle Ž Ep . in cm3rparticle is then calculated by
dividing Eg by the number of the particle in a gram
erodent that is assumed spherical in shape. This term is
introduced in order to understand the effect of individual
erodents on the erosion process.
3. Results
3.1. Glass
Fig. 2 represents erosion data pertaining to 180–250
mm diameter particles of six different erodents and at an
impingement angle of 908 incidence. It shows that the
erosion rate of glass increases as the impingement velocity
increases. For the angular particles, the velocity exponent
approaches a value of 2. Fig. 3 shows the graph of erosion
Fig. 2. Variation of erosion rate of glass as a function of the impingement
velocity of erodents as indicated Ž180–250 mm. and at 908 incidence.
677
Toughness ŽMPa m0.5 . Density Žg cmy3 . Shape
50 7.8 Spherical
0.2–0.7 2.55 Spherical
1.2 2.67 Irregular
3–3.5 3.99 Irregular
5.0 15.7 Irregular
3.5–4.5 3.2 Irregular
7–11 3.5 Blocky
rate Ž Ep . of glass vs. the ratio of particle to target hardness
Ž Hp : Ht .. The y axis scale on the left corresponds to dark
shaded bar graphs which represents tests at 57 mrs with
particle sizes ranging between 180–250 mm. It is noted
that the erosion rate increases when the ratio of particle to
target hardness increases for particles with similar densi-
ties such as glass beads, silica, alumina, silicon carbide and
diamond erodents. However, WC erodent causes maxi-
mum erosion loss. The y axis scale on the right corre-
sponds to striped bar graphs which represents tests at 45
msy1 with particle sizes ranging between 400–500 mm.
The erosion rate for glass eroded by steel shots is greater
than that for glass eroded by glass beads, silica, alumina
and silicon carbide. For spherical particles, there is a sharp
increase in erosion rate at a critical threshold velocity as
shown in Fig. 2. The steady-state damage of glass eroded
by angular and spherical particles at different test condi-
tions is shown in Fig. 4. The steady-state erosion surfaces
generated at a velocity of 99 m sy1 appear very similar for
all angular particles in spite of a large difference in erosion
rates and show evidence of lateral cracking. Glass beads
below or in the size range 180–250 mm and impacting at
Fig. 3. Graph of Ep of glass as a function of Hp : Ht at an impingement
angle of 908. The y axis scale on the left corresponds to dark shaded bar
graph which represents testing at 57 m sy1 with particle size ranging
between 180–250 mm. The y axis scale on the right corresponds to
striped bar graph which represents testing at 45 m sy1 with particle size
ranging between 400–500 mm.
678 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684

Fig. 4. SEM micrographs of the eroded surface of glass impacted with erodents Ž106–125 mm. and at 908 incidence Ža. diamond Ž99 m sy1 . Žb. glass
beads Ž57 m sy1 . Žc. glass beads Ž99 m sy1 . Žd. glass beads Ž400–500 mm, 57 m sy1 ..

low velocities cause material removal involved no cone
cracks and lateral cracks. With increasing velocity, the
evidence for lateral cracking is noted. With glass beads
above or in the size range of 400–500 mm, material
removal is associated with the formation and interaction of
Hertzian cone cracks ŽFig. 4d.. The logarithm of steady
state erosion rate as a function of logarithm of impacting
particle size for 908 incidence on glass for the six erodent
particles as shown in Fig. 5. It is noted that the erosion rate
increases with increasing particle size. However, there is a
significant size effect for glass eroded with glass beads
below 400–500 mm. The erosion rate increases rapidly
above the threshold size.
A multivariate, linear regression analysis was used to
analyse the data. Since for spherical glass beads the slope
of trend lines as shown in Figs. 2 and 5 is not constant, the

Fig. 5. Variation of Ep of glass with particle size for the indicated Fig. 6. Graph of Ep of alumina vs. impingement velocity of indicated
particles at 57 m sy1 and 908 incidence. particles Ž180–250 mm. at 908 incidence.
 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684
Fig. 7. SEM images of steady-state eroded surface of polished alumina surfaces result from the impact of Ža. silica Žb. diamond erodent particles and at 908
incidence.
empirical correlations of erosion rate vs. velocity and size
cannot be obtained in this case. Likewise, the empirical
correlations cannot be deduced for WC erodents and steel
shot due to lack of sufficient variation in particle sizes.
The empirical relationships of Ep of glass as a function of
velocity Ž V . and particle size Ž D . for silica, alumina,
silicon and diamond at 908 incidence are detailed below
For SiO 2 : Ep A V 2.7D 4
For Al 2 O 3 : Ep A V 2 .4 D 4
For SiC: Ep A V 2.2 D 4
For diamond: Ep A V 2 D 4
Good correlation coefficients Ž R 2 . of 0.998, 0.999,
0.999 and 0.998 were obtained for Eqs. Ž1. – Ž4., respec-
tively. The value of particle size exponent is 4. The
ranking of the value of velocity exponent is as follows:
diamond- silicon carbide- alumina- silica. The velocity
exponent increases with decreasing the hardness and
toughness of erodents.
Fig. 8. Graph of Ep of alumina vs. particle size at 45 m sy1 and 908
incidence.
679
3.2. Alumina
The dependence of erosion rate per particle on velocity
for alumina eroded by different erodents at 908 incidence
is shown in Fig. 6. It is noted that erosion rate increases
with increasing impingement velocity. The erosion rate of
alumina eroded by diamond is the highest, followed by
tungsten carbide, silicon carbide, alumina and silica. The
Ž 1. morphology of steady state eroded surface of alumina is
shown in Fig. 7. The impact of silica erodents on alumina
Ž 2. results in evidence of less grain spallation. The impact of
Ž 3. the other particles results in extensive grain spallation. The
variation of erosion rate per particle with particle size for
Ž 4. different erodents is shown in Fig. 8 in log–log scale. The
erosion rate increases with increasing particle size. The
alumina impacted with silica particles shows a signifi-
cantly different erosion dependency on particle size com-
pared with the target impacted with the other particles. A
slope of straight line Žparticle size exponent. is nearly 3 for
silica erodents and nearly 4 for the other erodents. The
empirical relationships of Ep of alumina as a function of
velocity Ž V . and particle size Ž D . for silica, alumina,
Fig. 9. Graph of Ep of WC–7% Co vs. impingement velocity of indicated
erodents Ž180–250 mm. and at 908 incidence.
680 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684
Fig. 10. Graph of Ep of WC–7% Co vs. particle size of SiC at 908
incidence.
silicon and diamond at 908 incidence are detailed below.
However, the empirical correlations for glass beads, steel
shot and WC erodents cannot be obtained due to the same
reasons as stated above for glass target. It is noted that the
value of size exponent decreases with decreasing the hard-
ness and toughness of erodents.
For silica: Ep A V 1.5 D 2.6 Ž 5.
2.2 3 .7
For alumina: Ep A V D Ž 6.
For SiC: Ep A V 2.2 D 3.9 Ž 7.
For diamond: Ep A V 2 .1 D 4 .0 Ž 8.
3.3. Tungsten carbide–cobalt
A log–log plot of Ep of WC–7% Co against impinge-
ment velocity of various erodent particles is shown in Fig.
9. The WC–7% Co eroded with diamond exhibited the
highest erosion rate, followed by SiC, alumina, WC and
silica. The effect of particle size on erosion was observed
only using SiC erodents. Fig. 10 shows a plot of erosion
rate as a function of particle size of SiC particles. It is
noted that the erosion rate increases with increasing parti-
Fig. 11. SEM micrographs of steady-state eroded surface of WC–7% Co after erosion with erodent particles Ž180–250 mm. at 908 incidence and an
average velocity of 99 m sy1 for particles Ža. silica Žb. diamond.
Fig. 12. Graph of Ep of 304 stainless steel vs. impingement velocity of
particles Ž180–250 mm. at 908 incidence.
cle size. The eroded surfaces of WC–Co are shown in Fig.
11. It is noted that WC grains eroded with higher hardness
particles appear to be degraded and fractured. The empiri-
cal correlation of Ep for SiC erodents can be expressed as
Ep A V 2 " 0.1 D 3 " 0.1 Ž 9.
3.4. 304 Stainless steel
The variation of Ep of 304 stainless steel as a function
of the impingement velocity of the erodent particles is
plotted on log–log scale as shown in Fig. 12 for an
impingement angle of 908. The 304 stainless steel eroded
by the WC erodent exhibits poorest erosion resistance,
followed by alumina, silicon carbide and silica. The most
interesting result of this investigation is the fact that the
304 stainless steel impacted by diamond erodents exhibits
the lowest erosion rate although diamond erodents are of
high hardness and toughness. The values of particle veloc-
ity exponent are nearly 2. Fig. 13 shows the plot of erosion
rate of 304 stainless steel as a function of SiC particle size.
It shows that the erosion rate increases with increasing
particle size. The value of particle size exponent that is a
slope of straight line is nearly 3. The steady-state eroded
 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684
Fig. 13. Graph of Ep of 304 stainless steel vs. the size of SiC erodents at
different velocities and at 908 incidence.
surfaces of 304 stainless steel produced by silica and
diamond erodents are shown in Fig. 14. At 908 impact, the
fracture surface contains deep grooves and lips of materi-
als that are fractured and flattened by successive particle
impact. Particular attention was paid to the eroded surface
of 304 stainless steel with diamond erodent impact. The
eroded surface was heavily deformed and ruptured. Only
alumina and SiC erodents of various sizes are used to
identify the effect of erodent size on the erosion rate per
particle. The empirical correlations of Ep are detailed
below. The values of velocity and size exponents are
nearly 2 and 3, respectively.
For alumina: Ep A V 2 " 0.2 D 3 " 0.1
For SiC: Ep A V 2.1 " 0.1 D 3 " 0.1
4. Discussion
4.1. Glass
The erosion rate of glass increases with increasing
impingement velocity as shown in Fig. 2. The high veloci-
Fig. 14. SEM images of the steady state eroded surface of 304 stainless steel with erodent particles Ž180–250 mm. and at an average velocity of 99 m sy1
Ža. silica Žb. diamond.
681
ties result in high kinetic energies and loading pressures,
which have the potential to do more damage. The differ-
ence of erosion rate is in terms of the efficiency of crack
initiation in the target by the erodents. The glass eroded by
nearly spherical steel shot exhibits the poorest erosion
resistance as shown in Fig. 3. This may be ascribed to high
kinetic energy dissipated by steel shot into the target due
to its high density and toughness, which offsets the lower
hardness of steel shot compared to the other erodents. In
addition, the maximum mean pressure and duration of the
elastic impact are 3.73 GPa and 0.724 ms for glass beads
with a velocity of 45 m sy1 . While for steel shot, the
maximum mean pressure and duration of the elastic impact
are 9.44 GPa and 0.965 ms. This increment generates a
greater scale of Hertzian cracks and causes more damage.
For glass eroded with angular particles with sizes rang-
ing between 180–250 mm as shown in Fig. 3, the glass
eroded with tungsten carbide erodent exhibits highest ero-
sion rate; the tungsten carbide particles have the highest
density and therefore more kinetic energy to dissipate into
the target. The erosion rate increases with an increase the
ratio of erodent to target hardness for particles with similar
density such as glass beads, silica, alumina, silicon carbide
and diamond erodents. This is due to the higher the
hardness and toughness of erodents, which gives them a
greater ability to penetrate into target without suffering
plastic deformation or fracture themselves. The erodents
with high toughness need more stress to be fragmented and
thus cause more erosive wear than the friable erodents.
Ž 10 . This leads to higher residual crack driving forces for the
initiation and propagation of lateral cracks.
Ž 11 .
There is no evidence of Hertzian cracking when glass is
eroded with small glass beads. Small particles produce
smaller stresses over smaller areas w34x and therefore have
a lower probability of activating suitable nucleating flaws
in the contact zone; thus Hertzian cracking is less likely to
occur. With increasing velocity, the maximum penetration
load is great so that the lateral cracks are developed by the
residual indentation stress that arises from mismatch of the
plastic zone and the surrounding elastic matrix. With glass
682 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684

beads above size range 180–250 mm, Hertzian cracks are
formed and further developed into Hertzian cone cracks
with increasing velocity w35x. The erosion rate increases
with increasing particle size as shown in Fig. 5. This is
ascribed to more surface contact area and contact time for
bigger erodents, which have a higher probability for en-
countering larger flaws on the surface of glass. There is a
sharp increase in erosion rate at a certain particle size. This
is due to a change in the mode of erosion.
Information on the erosion mechanism may be obtained
from the velocity exponent and particle size exponent. Eqs.
Ž1. – Ž4. show that the ranking of the value of velocity
exponent is as follows: diamond - silicon carbide -
alumina- silica. In order to obtain the values of density
and hardness exponent, a multivariate, linear regression
analysis was again used to analyse the data. The empirical
relationship between Ep of glass and the parameters of
erodents and targets is presented below
less energy is available for erosion. When the erodent
hardness is similar to the target hardness, the ease of
intergranular spallation is a rate controlling factor of ero-
sion. Harder and tougher erodents like WC, SiC and
diamond are less prone to plastic deformation and fracture
on impact; they have the ability to concentrate stress and
initiate fracture and crack propagation on surface. Thus,
the erosion rates are higher.
From the Eqs. Ž5. – Ž8., the value of size exponent
decreases with decreasing the hardness and toughness of
erodent. This may be attributed to the increase in fragmen-
tation of erodents as impact velocities increase. When the
hardness and toughness of erodents are less than that of
alumina target, the value of velocity exponents become
less than 2. This is due to fragmentation of silica erodents
at high velocity.

0.465"0.05
4.3. Tungsten carbide–cobalt
Ep A r 0.96 " 0.2 V 2.37 " 0.06 D 4 " 0.02 Ž Hp : Ht . Ž 12 .

It is noted that the value of density exponent is nearly 1. The mode of erosion for WC–7% Co is associated with
So particular attention was drawn to the Eq. Ž4. for a combination of ductile and brittle modes of erosion. The
diamond. Eq. Ž4. may be rewritten into ductile extrusion mechanism action is dominant for the
erosion process of the cobalt matrix. This leads the grain
uplift of WC and displacement which are subsequently
Diamond: Ep A r V 2.0 D 4 Ž 13 .
fractured by successive impacts with the erodents. The
ranking of erosion rate is diamond, SiC, alumina, WC and
This relationship suggests that erosion rate is propor-
silica impact as shown in Fig. 9, which suggests that the
tional to the kinetic energy and particle size. Any decrease
hardness and the extent of fragmentation of erodent parti-
of value of velocity exponent in Eqs. Ž1. – Ž3. results from
cles are important factors. The higher the hardness and
the inefficiency of crack initiation and propagation at the
toughness of the erodent particles, the more efficient the
low impact velocities. The softer and more fragile erodents
cracks were initiated the target by the erodents.
have a low ability to concentrate stresses and as a conse-
The empirical correlation of erosion rate per particle for
quence the zones of irreversible deformation are small and
SiC erodents can be expressed as Ep A V 2 " 0.1 D 3 " 0.1.
shallow and lateral cracks are less extensive. With increas-
This suggests that the erosion damage is proportional to
ing velocity, the effect of these erodent properties become
the kinetic energy of the erodent particle.
negligible since the high kinetic energy results in irre-
versible change and lateral cracking for all erodents. Thus
the velocity exponents for silica, alumina and silicon car-
bide erodent in empirical correlation are greater than 2.

4.2. Alumina

The erosion rate of alumina eroded by diamond is the

highest, followed by WC, SiC, alumina and silica as
shown in Fig. 6. This is ascribed to the efficiency of
intergranular spallation in the target by erodent. The sin-
tered alumina has a porous microstructure which provides
sites where cracks can initiate and grow during erosion.
These damages occur without the need for crack initiation.
The lower hardness and toughness silica erodents striking
alumina are themselves prone to plastic deformation and
fracture on impact and the initial kinetic energy is appor-
tioned between the target and the erodent particles so that Fig. 15.
 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684
4.4. Stainless steel
The mode of the erosive damage of 304 stainless steel
appears to be a combination of cutting or ploughing pro-
cesses and the accumulation of plastic deformation Žsee in
Fig. 14.. The erosion rate is lower for diamond erodent
impact compared with the other particles. This is probably
due to the blocky shape of diamond. Clearly the shape of
erodents plays an important role during erosion; this is
consistent with the results reported by Hutchings w24x. In
this case, erosive mode of 304 stainless steel eroded by
diamond erodents show heavily deformed regions with
little evidence for cutting. This work suggests that particle
shape is a most important factor in determining the erosion
rate. The empirical correlation between particle size–
velocity and Ep for irregularly shaped particles can be
expressed as Ep A V x D y , where x is nearly 2 and y is
nearly 3. This means that the erosion rate is determined
predominately by the kinetic energy of the erodents for
ductile materials. There is no or little effect of toughness
and hardness of the erodents on erosion rate since all the
angular erodents are very much harder than the 304 stain-
less steel.
4.5. EÕaluation of materials
A comparative evaluation of the relative performance of
all the target materials tested is shown in Figs. 15 and 16.
They show that erosion resistance of the relatively softer
304 stainless steel is better than that of alumina and
WC–7% Co target for hard erodents like silicon carbide
when impact angle is greater than 408. On the other hand,
the erosion resistance of the harder WC–7% Co and
alumina is better than that of 304 stainless steel for softer
erodents like silica. Performance of 304 stainless steel is
really independent of erodent hardness. However, hard
materials particularly the brittle materials are very sensi-
tive to the hardness and fragility of erodents. For brittle
Fig. 16.
683
materials, when the erodent hardness is less than that of
the target, less kinetic energy of impacting particles is
apportioned to the target due to the fragmentation of
erodents. Thus, erosion rate is lower for brittle materials
than for ductile when the erodent hardness is greater than
that of target.
It is concluded that 304 stainless steel may be an
attractive candidate material for the erosive wear problem
provided the hardness of erodent is greater than that of
target at impact angle greater than 408. On the other hand,
brittle materials and WC–7% Co were recommended for
use when the hardness of erodent is lower than that of
target. Glass always exhibits poor erosion resistance.
5. Conclusions
Ž1. The mode of erosion for glass eroded by irregularly
shaped particles is associated with the formation and inter-
action of lateral cracks. With spherical particle impact, the
mode of material removal is determined by particle size
and impingement velocity. The erosion of the polycrys-
talline ceramic alumina is associated with intergranular
spallation and grain crushing. The erosion of WC–7% Co
is associated with a combination of ductile and brittle
modes of erosion. The erosion behaviour of 304 stainless
steel is associated with cutting, ploughing and the accumu-
lation of deformation.
Ž2. The empirical relationships between Ep impacting
at 908 incidence and particle velocity and size have the
form Ep A V x D y where V is the impingement velocity
and D is the particle size. If the kinetic energy of the
particles is fully dissipated during material removal, the
values of x and y are 2 and 3, respectively, for materials
like 304 stainless and WC–7% Co. The departure of x
from 2 is as a result of the fragmentation and embedment
of the erodent particles. For brittle materials like glass and
alumina eroded with diamond, the values of x and y are
close to 2 and 4, respectively. The departure of x and y
from 2 and 4, respectively, is ascribed to inefficiency of
lateral crack initiation and propagation due to the fragmen-
tation of the brittle erodents.
Ž3. For brittle materials like glass and alumina, the
erosion rate is determined by kinetic energy, particle size
and the relative hardness and toughness of the erodents
and target. For ductile materials, the shape and kinetic
energy of erodents are the most important factors deter-
mining the erosion rate. There is no or little effect of
toughness and hardness of erodents on erosion rate.
Ž4. The erosion resistance of the softer 304 stainless
steel is better than that of alumina and WC–7% Co when
hard erodents are used at impact angle greater than 408. On
the other hand the erosion resistances of the harder WC–7%
Co and alumina are better than that of 304 stainless steel
when softer erodents like silica are used.
684 Z. Feng, A. Ball r Wear 233–235 (1999) 674–684
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