Erosion wear behavior of TiCN-Ni cermets containing secondary carbides (WC/NbC/TaC)

The present communication reports the results of a first set of erosion wear experiments, conducted on TiCN-20 wt% Ni cermets containing different secondary carbides (WC, NbC, and TaC). The cermets are eroded by SiC particles (66 mu m size) with a constant mass flow rate (2.33 g/s) at different angles of impingement (30 degrees, 60 degrees, 90 degrees) on an in-house fabricated erosion wear tester. An important experimental observation is that the investigated cermets exhibit behavior similar to ceramics, as evident from the systematic increase in erosion wear rate with impact angles. Among all investigated cermets, WC-added TiCN-20 wt% Ni cermets exhibit superior erosion wear resistance. SEM investigations of eroded surfaces (normal incidence) reveal grain pullout with intergranular fracture as the dominant material removal process.