SEDL / STP / STP664-EB / STP35810S

Influence of Crystal Structure on the Failure Mode of Metals by Cavitation Erosion

Preece, CM
Member of the technical staff, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N. J.

Vaidya, S
Graduate student, State University of New York, Stony Brook, N. Y.

Dakshinamoorthy, S
Process engineer, General Instrument Corp., Hicksville, N. Y.

Pages: 25    Published: Jan 1979

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Abstract

The cavitation-induced deformation and erosion of metals of the three common crystal structures, face centered cubic, body centered cubic, and hexagonal close packed (fcc, bcc, hcp), have been investigated. It is shown that the shock-loading conditions encountered by the metal during cavitation enhances the effects of different deformation modes and strain-rate sensitivity arising from differences in crystal structure. This, in turn, results in a complex crystal orientation and grain size dependence of erosion rates.

These factors, which are highlighted under cavitation conditions and minimized under quasi-static loading, are considered responsible for the lack of any correlation between erosion rates and conventional mechanical properties such as strength and hardness.