Friction surfacing for enhanced surface protection of marine engineering components: erosion-corrosion study

Good mechanical properties combined with outstanding corrosion-resistance properties of cast nickel-aluminum bronze (NAB) alloy lead to be a specific material for many marine applications, including ship propellers. However, the erosion-corrosion resistance of cast-NAB alloy is not as good as wrought NAB alloy. Hence, in this investigation, an attempt has been made to improve the erosion-corrosion resistance of cast NAB alloy by depositing wrought (extruded) NAB alloy applying the friction surfacing (FS) technique. Erosion-corrosion tests were carried out in slurries composed of sand particles of 3.5% NaCl solution. Silica sand having a nominal size range of 250–355 μm is used as an erodent. Specimens were tested at 30° and 90° impingement angles. It is observed that the erosion and erosion-corrosion resistance of friction surfaced NAB alloy exhibited an improvement as compared to cast NAB alloy. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis showed that the erosion tracks developed on the cast NAB alloy were wider and deeper than those formed on the friction surfaced extruded NAB alloy