Similarities and Differences in the Erosion Behavior of Materials

Abstract

A discussion is presented on the behavior of materials during erosion. A rigorous analysis must make an assumption as to the mechanism of material removal, i.e., either ductile or brittle. One expects then, when comparing experimental results, that considerable differences in erosion characteristics will be apparent between these two classes of materials. In this paper it is shown that these differences do exist; however, for certain brittle materials, a considerable similarity to ductile materials exists. This similarity is in the dependence of erosion on abrasive particle velocity and diameter and on the material properties of the eroded surface.