Effect of Annealing Treatment on Erosion-Corrosion of Zr-Based Bulk Metallic Glass in Saline-Sand Slurry

Bulk metallic glass (BMG) may be a good candidate to solve the erosion-corrosion (E-C) problems of marine pumps in sand-containing seawater. Since annealing treatment is an effective way to improve plasticity of BMGs, the effect of annealing treatment on E-C wear of Zr-based BMG in saline-sand slurry was investigated. All of the annealed BMG samples were crystallized and the quantity of (Zr, Cu) phase increased but that of Al4Cu9 phase decreased with the increase of annealing temperature from 360 to 480 °C. Accordingly, annealing treatment enhances plasticity of the as-cast BMG at the cost of hardness and corrosion resistance. Moreover, 480 °C annealed BMG sample possesses the highest hardness and the lowest corrosion current density in all of the annealed BMG samples. Using a slurry pot erosion tester, the E-C wear of the as-cast and annealed BMG samples was studied under different impingement angles, impact velocities, and concentrations in saline-sand slurry. With the improvement of plasticity, 480 °C annealed BMG sample exhibits the best E-C wear resistance under high impingement angle, high impact velocity, and high sand concentration.