Evaluation of a semi-empirical model in predicting erosion–corrosion

Rajahram, S.S, Harvey, T.J. and Wood, R.J.K. (2009) Evaluation of a semi-empirical model in predicting erosion–corrosion. Wear, 267 (11), 1883-1893. (doi:10.1016/j.wear.2009.03.002).

Abstract

The phenomenon of erosion–corrosion has been studied extensively by various investigators but no accurate
model has been developed to predict the interactions between erosion and corrosion. This is mainly
attributed to the complexity of the interactions that generate either a synergistic or antagonistic wear
effect for a particular material in a certain environment. A semi-empirical model has recently been developed
at theUniversity of Southampton which incorporates dynamic Hertzian contact mechanics to model
the damage during particle impact and accommodates the effect of erodent deforming the surface leading
to an increased corrosion activity. The model was found to have good agreement with erosion–corrosion
rates of carbon steel. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the robustness of this semi-empirical model by
testing it on a passive metal. UNS S31603 was chosen due to its inherent passivity to corrosion. A slurry
pot erosion tester was used as the test rig to perform the experiments. It was found that this passive
metal produces high synergistic levels when exposed to erosion–corrosion in 0.3MHCl with variation in
erodent concentrations and flow velocities. SEM and surface profilometry show typical ductile material
behaviour with cutting mechanism and deformation mechanism occurring simultaneously. A wear map
is presented and it is observed that the increase in velocity and sand concentration causes the material to
shift from a corrosion–erosion dominated region to an erosion–corrosion dominated region. This paper
will also evaluate the semi-empirical model and discuss its applicability in predicting erosion–corrosion.

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Contributors

Author: R.J.K. Wood

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