Temperature effects on the erosion of aluminum alloy

"Temperature effects on the erosion of the 6063 aluminum alloy were investigated. Erosion experiments were performed by sandblasting silicon carbide particles of 80 grit size. The target volume loss, and worn depths of the eroded material were investigated at different temperatures. It was found that the temperature had only a minor impact on the peak attack angle. The effect of temperature on erosion damage depended on the relative humidity (RH) of the environment. IntroductionThe synergy of wind and sand or dust may result in the erosion of materials. However, the severity of erosion damage in different areas and in different seasons might be varied, depending on environmental variables such as temperature and humidity. As a result, determining the effect of environmental variables on erosion damage is important in selecting or ranking materials for their suitable applications in diverse areas.The relationship between erosion wastage and temperature is governed by many factors including temperature dependent properties of the material (strength, ductility, toughness, and dynamic hardness, etc.), mechanical erosion characteristics, the rate of oxidation, and the mechanical properties of oxides. Although the effect of temperature on erosion has been studied for engineering materials (Smeltzer et al., 1970; Gat and Tabakoff, 1978; 1980; Levy et al., 1986; Levy and Man, 1986; Chinnadurai and Bahadur, 1995; Howard and Ball, 1997; Colclough and Yeomans, 1997; Suckling and Allen, 1997), published literature dealing with aluminum alloy is rather limited."