Cavitation erosion resistance of high nitrogen stainless steel in comparison with low N content CrMnN stainless steel

Abstract

The cavitation erosion (CE) of a high nitrogen stainless steel (HNS) and a low nitrogen CrMnN stainless steel in both distilled water and 3%NaCl solution at 20±1°C was investigated by using a magnetostrictive induced cavitation facility. The evolution of CE with test time was analysed by morphology observation by SEM and roughness measurement after different CE intervals. The possible phase transformation of austenite to martensite due to cavitation was analysed by XRD, and cross-sectional microhardness after cavitation was also measured to evaluate the work hardening ability. The role of corrosion was analysed by polarisation curve. The test results indicated that HNS had a relatively higher CE resistance than CrMnN steel, which was mainly attributed to its higher work hardening ability, thicker wok hardening layer and lower stacking fault energy. Different from that of the HNS, many tiny cracks could be clearly seen in the cross-section of eroded CrMnN steel especially at the ferrite zones. The pure erosion dominated the whole cavitation damage process, and the synergistic effect between corrosion and erosion was relatively small for both steels. The CE behaviour of HNS was relatively more sensitive to the corrosion media than that of CrMnN steel. Therefore, it should be a little bit careful when HNS was used in corrosive media.