Effect of cavitation inducers' apex angle on erosion resistance of SS304 in the slurry pot test rig

Hydraulic turbines are associated with many problems, one such problem is erosion of material due to slurry, cavitation and corrosion. The problem aggravate with synergy effect of slurry and cavitation. In the present work the candidate material SS 304 is exposed for both slurry alone and for the synergy effect of slurry and cavitation erosion. The triangular prismatic bluff bodies (Triangular prismatic wedges made of 316L stainless-steel having, 15 degrees, 30 degrees, 45 degrees and 60 degrees apex angles with 10mm base and 25mm height) are referred to as cavitation inducers (CI's) and is used in the conventional slurry pot tester to induce cavitation to bring in synergy effect in the conventional slurry pot test rig. The tests are conducted using silica sand as the erodent with two different sizes of 200 mu m and 300 mu m. The results confirm synergy effect of slurry and cavitation erosion. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.