Erosion behavior of 440C stainless steel cryogenically treated

The quality of most of metallic products depends on its superficial condition and how it deteriorates in operation; mostly the type of deterioration phenomena is the principal factor which affects life time and operation performance of machines components. The erosion is one of the most deteriorating factors which metals are exposed to. In the present work, erosion by solid particle tests of martensitic 440C stainless steel were realized. Silica sand (SiO₂) was used as erodent at four impact angles and four impact speed of the particles. Graphs of erosion show a brittle behavior tendency. The erosion marks were mapped by 3D profilometry, showing that there is no correspondence between the angle of maximum mass loss and the angle at which maximum penetration marks were observed at 5 and 10 psi. Scanning electron microscopy was used to determine the erosion mechanisms for each impact angle test. These results are compared to similar studies in which some behavior differences are reported.

Keywords: 440C stainless steel, erosion, Silica sand SiO2, Impact angle, behavior brittle.