Vibratory cavitation erosion behavior of AISI 304 stainless steel in water at elevated temperatures

The cavitation erosion behavior of AISI 304 stainless steel was investigated using an ultrasonic vibratory apparatus at elevated temperatures and the morphologies of the eroded surface and the cross section were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. The results show that the cumulative mass loss increases, shows a peak and then decreases with increase in liquid temperature. The cavitation damage of the eroded surface was relatively uniform at 20-60 °C and at 80 °C it was localized; the depth of local deeper pit at 80 °C was about 1.7 times deeper than at 50 °C. The initial results based on the cumulative mass loss could not predict the degree of cavitation damage, and the depth of local erosion pit may be an effective method for judging erosion damage.