Effect of liquid metal composition and hydrodynamic parameters on cavitation erosion

Hattori, Shuji*; Yada, Hiroki ; Kurachi, Hiroaki*; Tsukimori, Kazuyuki

Cavitation erosion testing machine was developed using the vibratory apparatus for low-temperature melting alloys. The erosion tests of SUS304 were carried out in three kinds of lead bismuth and deionized water to discuss the influence of metal kind on erosion rate. Moreover, the effect of flow velocity and cavitation number on the erosion rate was discussed. The erosion rate was evaluated in terms of a relative temperature which was defined as the percentage between freezing and boiling points. At 14 degrees Celsius relative temperature, the erosion rate is 10 to 12 times in various lead-bismuth alloys, and 2 to 5 times in sodium, compared with that in deionized water. It is considered that the erosion rate in sodium is in proportion to 1st to 6th power of flow velocity similarly to that in mercury.