CHAPTER 8

EROSIVE WEAR

Erosive wear is caused by the impact of particles of solid or liquid against the surface of an object.
Erosive wear occurs in a wide variety of machinery and typical examples are the damage to gas turbine blades
when an aircraft flies through dust clouds and the wear of pump impellers in mineral slurry processing systems.
In common with other forms of wear, mechanical strength does not guarantee wear resistance and a detailed
study of material characteristics is required for wear minimization. The properties of the eroding particle are
also significant and are increasingly being recognized as a relevant parameter in the control of this type of wear.

Mechanisms of Erosive Wear

Erosive wear involves several wear mechanisms which are largely controlled by the particle material,
the angle of impingement, the impact velocity and the particle size. If the particle is hard and solid then it is
possible that a process similar to abrasive wear will occur. Where liquid particles are the erodent, abrasion does
not take place and the wear mechanisms involved are the result of repetitive stresses on impact. The known
mechanisms of erosive wear are illustrated in Figure 8.1.

The angle of impingement is the angle between the eroded surface and the trajectory of the particle
immediately before impact as shown in Figure 8.1(a). A low angle of impingement favours wear processes
similar to abrasion because the particles tend to track across the worn surface after impact. A high angle of
impingement causes wear mechanisms which are typical of erosion.

The speed of the erosive particle has a very strong effect on the wear process. If the speed is very low
then stresses at impact are insufficient for plastic deformation to occur and wear proceeds by surface fatigue.
When the speed is increased, it is possible for the eroded material to deform plastically on particle impact. In
this regime, which is quite common for many engineering components, wear may occur by repetitive plastic
deformation. If the eroding particles are blunt or spherical then thin plates of worn material form on the worn
surface as a result of extreme plastic deformation. If the particles are sharp then cutting or brittle fragmentation
is more likely. Brittle materials, on the other hand, wear by subsurface cracking. At very high particle speeds
melting of the impacted surface might even occur.

The size of the particle is also of considerable relevance and most of the erosive wear problems involve
particles between 5 and 500 [μm] in size. A low earth orbit (LEO) satellite provides an example of erosive wear
by minute particles. The satellite is subject to erosion by impacting oxygen and nitrogen atoms from the outer
atmosphere and this eventually causes degradation of the satellite casing. In space, there are also innumerable
meteorites cause erosion. For both material degradation in the LEO satellites and planetary meteorite
bombardment, impact speeds of eroding particles are very high and the specific wear mechanism is different
from what is usually understood by erosive wear. During impact by atmospheric atoms, the crystal lattice of the
bombarded material is degraded to form an eroded structure. In erosion by meteorites, the large size and speed
result in a macroscopic damage process where effects such as the eddying of the atmosphere around the impact
site are also significant.
Figure 8.1 Possible mechanisms of erosion; a) abrasion at low impact angles, b) surface fatigue during
low speed, high impingement angle impact, c) brittle fracture or multiple plastic deformation during
medium speed, large impingement angle impact, d) surface melting at high impact speeds, e) macroscopic
erosion with secondary effects, f) crystal lattice degradation from impact by atoms.

Effect of Impingement Angle and Impact Speed on Erosive Wear Rate

Impingement angles can range from 00 to 900. At zero impingement angle there is negligible wear because the
eroding particles do not impact the surface, although even at relatively small impingement angles of about 200,
severe wear may occur if the particles are hard and the surface is soft. Wear similar to abrasive wear prevails
under these conditions. If the surface is brittle then severe wear by fragmentation of the surface may occur,
reaching its maximum rate at impact angles close to 900 . The relationship between wear rate and impingement
angle for ductile and brittle materials is shown in Figure 8.2.

Figure 8.2 Schematic representation of the effect of impingement angle on wear rates of
ductile and brittle materials.
In cases when erosion shows a maximum at low impingement angles, it is concluded that the 'ductile mode of
erosive wear' prevails. Conversely if the maximum is found at high impingement angles then the 'brittle mode'
is assumed.

Effect of Particle Shape, Hardness, Size and Flux Rates on Erosive Wear Rate

Particle characteristics play an important role in erosion problem. It is known that hard particles cause higher
wear rates than soft particles. The sharpness of the particle has also been recognized as accelerating erosive
wear. The ratio of particle hardness to substrate hardness is a controlling parameter. The effect of particle
hardness on wear depends on the particular mode of erosive wear taking place, e.g., ductile or brittle. In the
brittle mode the effect of particle hardness is much more pronounced than in the ductile mode.

It is impossible to isolate hardness completely from other features of the particle such as its shape. Even if the
particle is hard but relatively blunt then it is unlikely to cause severe erosive wear. A blunt particle has a mostly
curved surface approximating to a spherical shape while a sharp particle consists of flat areas joined by corners
with small radii which are critical to the process of wear.

Variations in particle size can cause fundamental changes in the erosion mechanism. A series of erosion tests on
glass, steel, graphite and ceramics revealed that as particle size was increased from 8.75 [μm] to 127 [μm] in
diameter the mode of erosion changed from ductile to brittle. This caused the erosive wear peak to move from
about a 300 to about an 800 impingement angle and even more significantly resulted in a dramatic increase in
erosive wear rates as shown in Figure 8.3. In both cases silicon carbide impinging at a speed of 152 [m/s] was
used as the erosive agent.

Figure 8.3 Effect of particle size on mode and rates of erosive wear
Figure 8.3 also shows that particle size not only affects the wear rate but drastically alters the ranking of
materials in terms of wear resistance. When the small particles were used as the erosive agent the materials
ranked according to their wear resistance are in the following order: high density alumina > annealed aluminium
> plate glass > high density magnesia > graphite and hardened steel. Apart from the annealed aluminium,
erosive wear rate depends on the hardness of the material. On the other hand, when the large particles were used
as the erosive agent, the order changes to annealed aluminium > hardened steel > high density alumina > high
density magnesia > plate glass > graphite. So in this case toughness of the m a t e r i a l is i m p o r t a n t .
Materials which are n e i t h e r tough nor hard, e.g., graphite, show inferior erosion resistance.

Erosive Wear by Liquid

Liquid can cause as much erosion damage as solids provided that impact velocities are sufficiently high.
A prime example of this problem is damage to aero planes flying through clouds or turbine blades in wet steam.
A series of experiments revealed the basic mechanism of liquid erosion. In these experiments, cylindrical
droplets of water were propelled with very high velocity at a target. High speed photography enabled
observations of events at impact to reveal the transient formation of shock waves within the liquid projectile.
The shock waves allow for release of the impact pressure. A high impact pressure is sustained until the shock or
pressure relief waves have passed through the liquid. In Figure 8.4 a conceptual diagram of the fluid particle.
(cylindrical in shape) impacting the surface and the resulting impact force-time history is shown in Figure 8.4.

Figure 8.4 Erosion mechanism by liquid particles on a solid surface.

Wear is a result of a series of transient contact stress pulses in the impacted material. The mechanism of
wear depends on the liquid velocity. At low velocities, the worn material is firstly roughened uniformly, with
the subsequent formation of random craters. Lips form at the edge of the craters which may then be removed by
later impacts. At high velocities holes or pits are formed in the worn material by impacting droplets. If a brittle
material is involved, wear by fracture may occur.

Erosive wear by water drops is a major cause of wear in steam-turbine blades and the fuselage of
supersonic aircraft when the impingement velocity exceeds 250 [m/s] and the droplet diameter is greater than
200 [μm]. Impact by droplets larger than 800 [μm] in diameter results in large impact forces.

Effect of Temperature on Erosive Wear

The rate and mechanism of erosive wear are influenced by temperature. The primary effect of
temperature is to soften the eroded material and increase wear rates. The effects of temperature on erosion of
stainless steel are shown in Figure 8.5. The erosive agent is silicon carbide impinging stainless steel at a speed
of 30 [m/s] in a nitrogen atmosphere.
 It is not until temperatures higher than 600 μm are reached that the erosion rate shows significant
increase. This temperature coincides with the softening point of the steel. There is a strong correlation between
the mechanical properties of the material at the temperature of erosion and wear rate as shown in Figure 8.6.

When high temperature erosion of metals occurs in an oxidizing medium, corrosion can take place and
further accelerate wear. Material is removed from the eroding surface as a relatively brittle oxide and this
process of wear can be far more rapid than the erosion of ductile metal. At sufficiently high temperatures,
however, the underlying metal does not come into contact with the impinging particles because of the thick
oxide layer present [72] and then oxidation rates, not mechanical properties, control the erosive wear.

Figure 8.5 Effect of temperature on the erosive wear rate of stainless steel

Figure 8.6 Relationship between mechanical properties of materials and erosion rate at
elevated temperatures:
Effect of Erosion Media on Erosive Wear
Most erosive agents are conveyed by a medium, e.g., water or air. A mixture of erosive particles and liquid
medium is known as a slurry. The characteristics of the medium have a surprisingly strong effect on the final
wear rate. Controlling factors relate to the bulk properties of the medium, i.e., viscosity, density and turbulence,
and to its microscopic properties such as corrosivity and lubrication capacity. It has been shown that small
additions of lubricants to erosive slurries can significantly reduce wear. The ability of the liquid medium to
provide cooling during particle impingement is also important. In terms of bulk properties, the drag forces
imposed by a viscous slurry on the erosive particles can affect wear by altering the impingement angle. This is
demonstrated schematically in Figure 8.7.

Figure 8.7 Effect of medium on impingement angle by erosive particles.