Analysis of cavitation erosion resistance of cast iron and nonferrous metals based on database and comparison with carbon steel data

Cavitation erosion is a form of damage which occurs in many types of fluid machinery such as water turbines, pumps and torque converters, as well as in industrial machines such as cylinder liners of diesel engines, ship propellers and valves. We have constructed a database of cavitation erosion and analyzed carbon steel data. In this study, erosion resistance was analyzed for cast iron, aluminum alloys, copper alloys, and titanium alloys, in comparison with regular carbon steels. The cavitation erosion resistance can be separately evaluated in terms of hardness for these alloys. The resistance is 1/3 to 1/5 lower for gray cast iron and 2/3 to 1/3 lower for ductile cast iron compared with carbon steel of the same hardness, and it is 1/3 to 1/5 lower for aluminum alloys compared with carbon steel. The resistance of copper alloys and titanium alloys is almost the same as that of carbon steel.