A new Coriolis slurry erosion tester design for improved slurry dynamics

The Coriolis slurry tester provides a means of discriminating between the resistance of different materials to slurry erosion damage under low interaction intensity (low impingement angle and low normal velocity impact) conditions. A new design of the rotor–specimen holder assembly has been evolved to provide better control of the slurry flow over and along test specimen surfaces. Wear patterns on tester components reveal that slurry flow is similar to that predicted theoretically. The effects that the less turbulent fluid flow has on the response of specimen materials to slurry erosion, as measured either by specific energy or erosion resistance parameters, are also discussed. The new tester overcomes the sensitivity of earlier designs to small variations in the dimensions of specimen holders, or specimen positioning inserts, consequent upon machining tolerances.