Cavitation erosion of Fe–Mn–Si–Cr shape memory alloy

Cavitation erosion tests of three Fe–Mn–Si–Cr shape memory alloys were carried out at speed 34 and 45 m/s using a rotating disc rig, and their cavitation damage has been investigated by comparison with a referring 13Cr–5Ni–Mo stainless steel used for hydraulic turbine vanes. The research results proved that the cavitation erosion of the Fe–Mn–Si–Cr shape memory alloys is a failure of low cycle fatigue and fracture propagates along grain boundaries. After 48 h cavitation erosion the cumulative mass losses of the studied alloys at speed 45 m/s are more than theirs at speed 34 m/s; however, the effect of velocity on cavitation damage of the Fe–Mn–Si–Cr alloys is much lower than that of 13Cr–5Ni–Mo stainless steel. The cumulative mass loss of the 13Cr–5Ni–Mo stainless steel are 26.3 mg at speed 45 m/s and 3.2 mg at speed 34 m/s, and the mass losses of the Fe–Mn–Si–Cr alloys are within the range of 3.6–7.3 mg at speed 45 m/s and 2.0–4.1 mg at speed 34 m/s. The surface elasticity of the Fe–Mn–Si–Cr shape memory alloys is better than that of the 13Cr–5Ni–Mo stainless steel, and the effect of surface elasticity on cavitation damage increases with velocity. The excellent surface elasticity of the cavitation-induced hexagonal closed-packed (h.c.p.) martensite plays a key role in contribution of phase transformation to the cavitation erosion resistance of the Fe–Mn–Si–Cr shape memory alloys. The cavitation damage of the studied alloys at speed 45 m/s mainly depends on their surface elasticity, and the variation of 48 h cumulative mass loss (Δm) as a function of the elastic depth (he) can be expressed as Δm=2.695+[1371.94/(4(he−46.83)2+12.751)] with a correlation factor of 0.99345.