The behavior to cavitation erosion-corrosion of the CuZn39Pb3 brass structures, obtained by in-depth heat treatments

Abstract

The paper highlights the behavior at the vibratory cavitation erosion of CuZn39Pb3 brass microstructures, as obtained by in-depth heat treatments. Two heat treatment cycles are analysed (hardening at 800ºC, followed by cooling in water, and hardening at 800ºC, with cooling in water, followed by tempering at 400ºC with cooling in air). The micro-hardness measurements show that the change in the microstructure, relative to the initial status of the material (semi-finished), determines higher values of the micro-hardness. The studies of the cavitation erosion, using the vibrating standard piezoelectric crystal assembly, available in the Cavitation Research Laboratory at the Polytechnic University from Timisoara, presented in the paper, shows significant increases in the surface resistance to the stress determined by the cavitation micro-jets, as compared to the initial state of the material (semi-finished).