Wet erosion behaviour of low SiC alumina-SiC nanocomposites

We have investigated the erosive wear behaviour of alumina and Al2O3-SiC "nanocomposites" with SiC content between 1 and 5%. Nanocomposites (grain sizes between 3.15 and 7.16 mum) and alumina (grain size 4.43 mum) were eroded with SiC particles using a custom-built erosive slurry wear tester. The erosion resistance of the nanocomposites increased slightly with decreasing grain size. Nanocomposites of all grain sizes showed better wear resistance than the alumina. Erosion resistance increases with SiC content, though this effect is not strong for SiC contents greater than 2%. These results are compared with related results from the literature. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.