Performance Analysis of CA6NM Hydro-Turbine Steel Under Accelerated Conditions by Using an Indigenously Developed Slurry Erosion Tester

Abstract

The assessment of slurry erosion performance of materials under real service situations is often a difficult task. This is due to the intertwined nature of various influential parameters such as slurry concentration, impact velocity, properties of abrasive media, flow characteristics etc. However, real service situations can be simulated in a laboratory test rig by performing the accelerated erosion testing of materials. A slurry erosion tester is generally employed to discriminate the slurry erosion behavior of different materials. The complicated design, inadequate slurry flow, etc. are the main problems that are generally encountered during the slurry erosion testing and thus the data generated have limited application for quantitative analysis. In the present work, a simple design of slurry erosion test rig has been proposed, having several advantages, such as, better control over slurry flow, simultaneous testing of six specimens and time saving feature etc. in comparison with the documented setups. Further, commissioning of the present test rig was carried out by determining the effect of slurry related parameters (rotational speed, average particle size and slurry concentration) on the erosion behavior of CA6NM steel. The obtained results were sufficient to validate the capability of the proposed tester to capture the traditional responses of erosion behavior being observed in the test material.