Influence of sand particle size on the erosion-corrosion resistance of Ni2FeCrMo0.2 HEA in seawater: Particle-surface-electrochemistry interaction

The erosion-corrosion mechanism in rotary flowing seawater is hugely complicated due to the multiscale coupling processes of particle-surface impact, ion mass transfer, and interface electrochemistry. Therefore, developing erosion-corrosion resistant material and exploring the synergistic mechanism between sand erosion and electrochemical corrosion is vital. This study conducted the erosion-corrosion test on Ni2FeCrMo0.2 high-entropy alloy under the particle-seawater flow. Based on a coupled analysis of multi-component weight loss, electrochemical behavior, and microscopic damage morphology, the multiscale coupling processes of sand transportation, particle-surface impact, ion mass transfer, and interface electrochemistry were revealed. The present study found that with the increase of sand size, the energy carried by the particles promoted impact erosion. Additionally, particle movement enhanced ion mass transfer through turbulent effects, and the impact behavior disrupted the passivation film to promote electrochemical processes by reducing the thickness of the passivation film, leading to an increase in the erosion-corrosion rate. However, when the particle size continued to increase to a certain extent, the impact frequency decreased, reducing the erosion-corrosion rate. As the sand size grew, the dominant damage mechanism transitioned from pure corrosion (100 μm) to synergistic effects (200 μm, 400 μm) and then to pure erosion (800 μm). This study provides an in-depth understanding of the erosion-corrosion mechanism in seawater from the perspective of particle-ion-fluid-surface interaction by multi-element characterization.