Effect of erosion angle and Fe₂B orientation on cavitation erosion and interfaces of Fe-B alloy in high-velocity flowing zinc

The effects of erosion angle and Fe₂B orientation on cavitation erosion and interface structures of a directionally solidified (DS) Fe-B alloy in flowing liquid zinc were investigated to clarify erosion mechanism of liquid metal. The results indicate that the cavitation erosion rate of DS Fe-B alloy with Fe₂B [001] orientation vertical to interface exhibits better erosion cavitation resistance. Erosion angle can strongly affect erosion performance that depends not only on interfacial orientation structure but also on local microturbulence. Erosion morphologies manifest that an obvious cavitation erosion occurs in strong flowing zinc disturbed and agitated zone, which results in severe cavitation pits and slip deformation of products, thus stimulating subsequent localized corrosion and pit-aggregation cracks. Cavitation erosion craters coupled with performance variations confirm that microturbulence-assisted fluid eddies and backflow are responsible for the cavitation pits. The combined effects of flow pattern and interface orientation significantly govern the epitaxial grown ζ removal/accumulation behaviors and multiphase pinning film adhesion. A model of hydraulic liquid-hammer action by cavitation-induced microjet and interface orientation interaction is proposed and discussed to account for cavitation pits and slip cracking, which reveals underlying erosion mechanism and material design of DS Fe-B alloy in flowing liquid zinc.