Investigation on Ultrasonic Cavitation Erosion Behaviors of Al and Al-5Ti Alloys in the Distilled Water

Jingtao Zhao,Junjia Zhang,Zongming Jiang,Yinglong Li,Jingwen Zhu

doi:10.3390/met10121631

Abstract

Al and Al-5Ti alloys were manufactured by an ultrasonic casting method with a new device, and their ultrasonic cavitation erosion behaviors of Al and Al-5Ti alloys in the distilled water were clarified. The damage mechanism was analyzed by macro photograph, scanning electronic micrograph and three-dimensional morphology, and the results demonstrate that Al-5Ti alloys have better cavitation erosion resistance than Al in terms of the mass loss and the surface damage. The deformation mechanism of Al and Al-5Ti alloys under cavitation erosion is mainly dislocation slip, and the Al3Ti phase enhances the cavitation erosion resistance of Al-5Ti alloys. In addition, the maximum depth of cavitation pits in the Al-5Ti sample is less than that in the Al sample for 31.3%.

Highlights

As a common natural phenomenon in the hydrodynamic environment, cavitation erosion has attracted considerable attention because of the surface damage it causes, the material erosion, the inefficiency and the great vibration and noise [1,2,3,4]
When the ultrasonic cavitation occurs in the liquid, the alternating changes of positive and negative pressure would make the cavitation bubble grow and collapse, resulting in a local transient high temperature [5,9]
The impact force on the materials surface is formed by cavitation bubble collapse, and it would lead to the phase transition and plastic deformation of the material [14,15,16,17]

Summary

Introduction

As a common natural phenomenon in the hydrodynamic environment, cavitation erosion has attracted considerable attention because of the surface damage it causes, the material erosion, the inefficiency and the great vibration and noise [1,2,3,4]. Cavitation erosion is typically caused by the formation, and subsequent collapse, of vapor bubbles in a vibrating liquid or high-speed flow liquid [5]. It affects the service life of many equipment, such as water pumps, hydraulic machines and rudders [6,7,8]. The severe collapse of a cavitation bubble would release huge energy and cause a micro-jet with a speed of 110 m/s, which leads to a collision density as high as. The impact force on the materials surface is formed by cavitation bubble collapse, and it would lead to the phase transition and plastic deformation of the material [14,15,16,17]. Cavitation erosion has a detrimental effect on the material performance, while having a positive effect on the surface hardness [18,19], and yet there is no suitable mechanism that can perfectly explain this phenomenon at present [20,21]

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion