Erosion Behaviors of Impeller Material FV520B in Centrifugal Compressor

Abstract

To study the erosion behaviors and mechanism of impeller material FV520B in centrifugal compressor, the erosion experiments with polygonal alumina particles were carried out on the high-speed erosion testing system. Microstructure of the erosion zone was analyzed by SEM to reveal the erosion mechanism. An erosion model to calculate the erosion rate of FV520B was developed. The results showed that, FV520B exhibited the erosion characteristics of typical plastic materials, the highest erosion rate occurred at the impact angle of 24°, the lowest erosion rate occurred at normal impact angle. The velocity index at the impact angle 24° and 90° were 3.37 and 3.68, it grew as the impact angle increased. The erosion mechanism of FV520B was micro-cutting and deformation wear, at low impact angles, the erosion was dominated by micro-cutting wear, while at high impact angle greater than 60 °, the erosion was dominated by deformation wear. Also the predictions of the erosion model were in good agreement with the results of experiments, indicating that this model can be used to estimate the erosion rate of compressor impeller under different working conditions.