The contribution of the Cavendish Laboratory to the understanding of solid particle erosion mechanisms

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Under the leadership of the late Prof. Philip Bowden, the PCS Group in the Cavendish developed an interest in the erosion damage caused by the impact of raindrops on high-speed aircraft and missiles in the late 1950s. However, although John Field took some classic high-speed photographic sequences of solid particle impact damage on glass in the early 1960s, material removal mechanisms caused by solid particle impact on both brittle and ductile materials only really began to be investigated in the Cavendish in the early 1970s with the work of Ron Winter and Ian Hutchings. Since then, about eight Ph.D. students and post-docs have made a study of this phenomenon in the PCS group making major contributions to the understanding of the basic mechanisms of solid particle erosion. A wide range of materials has been studied including metals, polymers, diamond, glass and ceramics. The main aim in all of our erosion research has been: (i) to create in the laboratory closely controlled impacts (shape of impacting body, speed and angle of impact, etc.) and (ii) to use high-speed photography and other techniques to identify the mechanisms operating in the erosion process. This is key for eventual successful modelling. The paper includes some ‘classic’ high-speed sequences.