Cavitation erosion of some laser-produced iron-base corrosion-resistant alloys

Cavitation erosion performance of structural carbon steel and corrosion-resistant chromium steel alloyed superficially with Mn, Cr, Ni, Si, Ti, Co, Nb, Al, Mo, B was investigated. The samples processed by means of CO2 laser beam were subjected to cavitation loading at the rotating disc facility. The tests were performed in the incubation period of the erosion. The damage of the alloyed and untreated surfaces at any moment of cavitation erosion process was defined by the loss of surface brightness due to indentations number increase. A correlation between the increase in cavitation resistance and the microhardness and work hardening capability of the processed layers were also searched for. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.