The solid particle erosion of tungsten carbide in silicon carbide slurry

The objective of this study was the examination of erosion rates of tungsten carbide using a high velocity slurry flow where the velocity, impingement angle, and number of particles are controlled. The apparatus used for these experiments was an impinging jet of high velocity slurry flow of silicon carbide particles. The fluid velocity in this study was varied from 70 - 200 ft/sec and the impingement angle was varied from 10-90 degrees. Five grades of tungsten carbide were examined along with a control batch of 1018 mild steel. The erosion was caused by silicon carbide particles of 280 and 320 mesh densities. The results of the study were plotted using a calculated erosion coefficient that was defined as the ratio of the mass of material removed from the samples divided by the mass of silicon carbide particles. Algebraic equations in terms of velocity and impingement angle were determined that fit the experimental data.