Cavitation Erosion Behaviour of Cooper Base Layers Deposited by HVOF Thermal Spraying

The recent development in enhancing the corrosion resistance of materials by covering with powdered layers open the way to use the procedure also for cavitation erosion protection, phenomenon always present in hydraulic machinery runners as well as ship propellers. The present research analyzes the behavior of four different types copper layers, deposited with high velocity flames, HVOF upon specimens realized from cast steel for general use 270-480 W (equivalent with OT500-3 used in Romania), to cavitation erosion in a Laboratory device. Even if the powder density and the layers thickness have close values, the behavior to cavitation erosion is different and depend primarily on the powder chemical composition and the microscopic structure.