Influence of the Erodent Shape on the Erosion Behavior of Ductile and Brittle Materials

Solid particle erosion is identified as a major wear process occurring in numerous industrial applications. A number of test parameters influence the behavior of the materials during this wear process. Particle shape is one of the key factors, which is often discussed for ductile or brittle materials in the literature, but a comparative study of ductile and brittle materials showing an effect of particle shape has not been addressed in detail until now. The present work discusses the influence of erodent shape on the wear behavior of a ductile (Ti-6Al-4 V alloy) and a brittle (TiN coating) material during the erosion process. Investigations are performed in an erosion test rig where the ductile and brittle materials are charged with spherical and angular SiO₂ particles at normal impact. Results show an inverse erosion behavior of ductile and brittle materials with the variation in particle shape. Ductile materials show low material removal with spherical particles, whereas brittle materials show low material removal rates with angular ones. This work also provides an analysis of the material removal phenomenon to understand the effect of particle shape on tested materials. Since materials removal phenomenon in ductile materials is often reported in the literature, this work addresses the material removal behavior especially in ceramic coatings.