Research Progress on Erosive Wear of Alloy Impellers
Chinese Journal of Rare Metals | Vol.49, Issue 9, 2025 |
pp. 1435-1453
Alloy impellers are widely used in compressors and turbines in the fields of energy
and power engineering and chemical industry. Their performance and life directly affect
the efficient operation and reliability of mechanical systems. However,in the complicated
operation conditions,solid particles and/or droplets carried by high-velocity fluids
continuously impact the impellers,resulting in erosion and wear. Over time,this causes
material spalling,microcrack propagation,and geometric deformation. As the damage
accumulates,it ultimately leads to degradation of aerodynamic capability and even
sudden failure. In this paper,the research progress on erosion and wear of alloy impellers
was systematically reviewed. Furthermore,it analyzed the mechanism and influencing
factors of wear types,anti-erosion materials,and erosion and wear protection measures.
In this way,the study aimed to provide a theoretical basis and technical reference
for improving the corrosion resistance of impellers. The types and mechanisms of erosion
wear could be divided into four categories: gas-solid erosion wear,liquid-solid erosion
wear,droplet erosion wear,and cavitation wear. Gas-solid erosion and liquid-solid
erosion were commonly found in industrial fluids containing solid particles. These
phenomena eroded the surface of materials through micro-cutting,plastic deformation,and
crack propagation mechanisms. Micro-cutting theory and deformation wear theory have
explained the wear behavior under low-angle and high-angle impacts,respectively. Beyond
these mechanisms,the secondary erosion theory had further incorporated the secondary
energy distribution effect after particle breakage. The droplet erosion mainly occurred
in high-speed,such as steam turbineblades,where the droplet impact caused microplastic
deformation on the surface and forms cavities. Subsequently,these cavities gradually
expanded into continuous grooves,and a process further aggravated by the water hammer
effect and stress wave propagation. The formation and rebound of secondary water droplets
further boosted the erosion. Cavitation wear results from the collapse of cavitation
bubbles caused by sudden changes in fluid pressure. This process generated micro-jets
and high temperature and high pressure that impacted the surface,inducing material
fatigue,lattice dislocation,and punctate spalling. In particular,the wear showed a
synergistic effect with droplets in centrifugal compressors. The erosion wear was
influenced by a variety of factors,including impurity,material properties,and environmental
parameters. For the impurity,particle shape,particle size,impact velocity,and impact
angle had significant impacts on the wear process. Regarding material properties,surface
hardness,toughness,yield strength,and modulus of elasticity affected erosion resistance.
For example,Ti6Al4V alloy exhibited excellent resistance to droplet erosion due to
its high hardness and toughness. Environmental parameters such as fluid viscosity,saturated
vapor pressure,and surface roughness indirectly exacerbated cavitation damage by changing
cavitation nucleus formation and collapse behavior. To extend the life of impeller,the
research focused on substrate materials,surface coating,structural design,and surface
strengthening. In terms of substrate selection,titanium alloys (such as Ti6Al4V)were
widely used benefitting from their high strength and corrosion resistance. But the
high brittleness limited the application in some scenarios. Cobalt-based alloys absorbed
impact energy through the phase transformation of the face-centered cubic structure
to the hexagonal densely packed structure. This principle enabled them to exhibit
excellent droplet erosion resistance. For the surface coating,the WC-Co coating prepared
by supersonic flame spraying (HVOF)had a good performance due to its high hardness
and low porosity. However,the spraying temperature needed to be strictly controlled
to avoid carbide decomposition. The microhardness of the Cr3C2-NiCr coating by plasma spray welding was 6.46 times that of the substrate,and the
anti-abrasive wear performance was significantly improved. In comparison,the Ni60A
coating prepared by arc spraying and laser cladding technique reduced the crack sensitivity
and water erosion depth by 53.2%. This enhancement primarily resulted from refining
the grain and introducing the TiB2+TiC eutectic structure. The impeller structure optimization inhibited erosion through
strategies such as biomimetic design,gap structure and balanced holes. Drawing on
the pectoral fin shape of humpback whales,the bionic design achieved blade leading
edge optimization with consequent reductions in cavitation volume and shock wave intensity.
The gap structure used the conductive characteristics and pressure self-equilibrium
to inhibit cavitation. The cavitation incidence was reduced by optimizing the circumferential
position of the equilibrium hole. In the surface strengthening process,the high-power
diode laser (HPDL)method was used to generate α martensitic phase on the surface of titanium alloys. This phase transformation enhanced
droplet erosion resistance by 2 times. Gas nitriding formed a TiN/Ti2N composite layer on the surface of Ti6Al4V,and the erosion resistance was increased
by 80%-125%. Shot peening and cavitation blasting reduced erosion by up to 95% by
introducing compressive residual stresses and reducing surface roughness. At present,most
of the research focused on a single protection technique,while erosion and wear were
often coupled by multiple mechanisms under actual working conditions. In the future,we
can focus on combining a variety of optimization schemes to improve impeller erosion
resistance. For instance,the gradient structure alloy impeller material design may
be integrated with surface coating for synergistic effects. Additionally,the impeller
structure optimization can be considered alongside surface strengthening treatment
to address multiple failure modes. In this way,the impeller's erosion resistance can
be comprehensively improved to meet the needs of long life and high performance of
the impeller under complex working conditions.
DOI: 10.13373/j.cnki.cjrm.XY25040018 Cited: 0 Download: 0
