Influence of hardness and grain size of the SS431 material on the slurry erosion wear through the pot tester at higher slurry concentrations

One of the most crucial considerations when developing any slurry transportation system is evaluating slurry erosion because it significantly contributes to the system’s many component’s ineffective operation and eventual failure. In the present work, the impact of the thermo-mechanical process (TMP) on the resistance of the slurry erosion wear of the target material has been investigated at a high solid concentration (50–70% fly ash by weight) and different rotational speeds (300–600 rpm) of the specimen. SS431 was used as the target material, and the Gleebles® 3800 simulator was used to perform the TMP on the target material. In the Gleebles® 3800 simulator, four strain rates (0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 s⁻¹) were used for the deformation at two temperatures (950 °C and 1050 °C). A slurry pot tester evaluated the slurry erosion wear for 15 h at room temperature. TMP specimens exhibit superior resistance to slurry erosion wear compared to as-received SS431 material at all flow parameters. The best resistance to slurry erosion was observed in specimens that had been TMP at 1050 °C with a strain rate of 1 s⁻¹. Correlations had been found between various target material properties (hardness and grain size) as well as flow properties (solid concentration and rotational speed of the specimens) and the slurry erosion wear, all of which contribute to the erosion mechanism.