The effect of fluid viscosity on the erosion wear behavior of Ti(C,N)-based cermets

The effect of fluid viscosity on the erosion wear behavior of Ti(C,N)-based cermets was investigated in this study. Five viscous fluids containing 5 wt% Al2O3 were used as the experimental medium. Besides, the effect of pure fluid without erodents was also investigated. The results indicate that fluid viscosity has a significant effect on the erosion process in the slurry flow. With the increase of fluid viscosity, the erosion wear rate decreases remarkably. Fluid viscosity leads to peeling off of broken debris and debonding on the surface, and the tearing effect is much more obvious with the increase of fluid viscosity. Fluid viscosity restricts the movement of solid erodents, and reduces the impingement energy, finally results in the decrease of erosion rate. Additionally, the single factor of fluid viscosity doesn't have obvious effect on the erosion behavior of cermets, and the main effect of fluid viscosity is to work by influencing the movement of erodents in the fluid, and then indirectly affects the process of material failure.