Cavitation erosion behavior of SA 106B carbon steel after treatment of the melt with nano-sized TiC particles

• TiC nanoparticles are homogeneously dispersed in SA 106B carbon steel matrix.
• Erosion rate of TiC dispersed carbon steel decreases by 1.42 times.
• More fine grain structure by TiC dispersion lead to higher cavitation resistance.
• Dispersion of TiC nanoparticles inhibits cavitation-induced crack propagation.

The cavitation erosion behavior of carbon steel dispersed with nano-sized TiC ceramic particles fabricated using the liquid metal casting process by ex-situ introduction of the particles was investigated in terms of the distribution of pearlite/ferrite regions and TiC reinforcing nanoparticles. In case of normal carbon steel, cavitation bubble-induced craters were preferentially formed inside the ductile ferrite region and thereafter they were easily detached through the grain boundary on a massive scale. When the nano-sized TiC particles were added, the incubation period and the erosion rate were 1.64 times longer and 1.42 times lower, respectively, compared to cast carbon steel without TiC nanoparticles, indicating a drastic increase in the cavitation erosion resistance due to the homogeneous distribution of TiC reinforcing nanoparticles.