The Mechanism of Material Removal in the Erosive Cutting of Brittle Materials

Abstract

An analysis is presented for the erosive cutting of a brittle material by the normal impact of a stream of solid particles. The volume of material removed by a given number of particles is predicted to be: W = krf1(m)Uf2(m) In this expression, k is a quantity involving material constants, r is the average radius, and U the velocity of the impacting particles. The exponents f1 (m) and f2 (m) are prescribed functions of m, the flaw parameter of the Weibull fracture strength distribution. Tests on a variety of brittle materials, using both angular silicon carbide particles and spherical steel shot, show the predictions of the analysis to be applicable over a wide range of particle sizes and velocities.