Variation in erosion resistance of pseudoelastic TiNi alloy with respect to temperature

Near-equiatomic TiNi alloy exhibits excellent wear resistance, benefiting from its pseudoelasticity and other intrinsic mechanical properties. The pseudoelasticity helps to reduce plastic deformation and absorb impact energy, thus decreasing the material loss. Since the martensitic transformation is temperature dependent, research was conducted to investigate the performance of Ti-51at.%Ni alloy during erosion as a function of temperature and the erodent velocity. The erosion behavior of the TiNi alloy was evaluated using a high-temperature air-jet erosion tester. The worn surface was examined using scanning electron microscopy and the transformation temperature was determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was demonstrated that there was a minimum erosion loss with respect to temperature and the velocity of erodent also influenced this minimum erosion loss. Possible mechanism responsible for the erosion behavior of TiNi alloy is discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.