Cavitation erosion resistance of stellite alloy weld overlays

Stellite alloys have excellent cavitation erosion resistance and are often used for liquid machinery, but the erosion properties of various stellite alloys have not been evaluated by a standard method. In this study, we evaluate the erosion resistance for various stellite alloy weld overlays of ST6 and ST21 in a vibrating method and in a cavitating liquid jet method. The grain size of the Co matrix affects the cavitation erosion resistance of stellite alloy weld overlays of ST6. The erosion rate of the maximum rate stage of stellite weld overlay alloys of ST6-1, ST6-2 and ST6-3 were found to be about 1/13 to 1/7 times that of SUS304. Moreover, we clarified the cavitation erosion mechanism of SUS304 and ST6 by scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, by comparing the erosion behavior in a cavitating liquid jet method with that in a vibratory method, it was found that the erosion rate of the cavitating jet method and the vibratory method have a good correlation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.