Investigation of Temperature Effects on Cavitation Erosion Behavior Based on Analysis of Erosion Particles

The effect of temperature on the wear particles produced by vibratory cavitation erosion tests on Al-99.92 in distilled water was analyzed. Scanning electron microscope images of wear particles were obtained, forming a database for further analysis. This study showed that the variation of average particle size with temperature was very much similar to the variation of weight loss with temperature. The average particle size was maximum at 40 degrees C. It was also observed that the average particle size was time dependent. The particle's morphology features revealed that the predominant erosion mechanism was fatigue failure, irrespective of the temperature. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4002069]