CORRELATION OF CAVITATION EROSION BEHAVIOR WITH MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF METALS

Good correlations are presented between material removal rates and cyclic deformation parameters, a strong indication that damage in cavitation erosion is a fatigue process. The predominant property in cavitation erosion resistance is shown to be the fatigue strength coefficient σf′ which accounts for most of the differences among materials. Correlations are further improved by incorporating the cyclic strain-hardening exponent n′ in a combined parameter σf′n′. This combined parameter also correlates well with the stacking fault energy, a primary determinant of deformation modes in many of the materials used in past experiments. © 1990.