Effect of boron addition on the cavitation erosion resistance of Fe-based hardfacing alloy

The cavitation erosion behavior of Fe–Cr–C–Si– xB ( x = 0, 0.3 and 0.6 wt.%) alloys were investigated up to 50 h by using 20 kHz vibratory cavitation erosion test equipment. The boron-added alloys showed the improved cavitation erosion resistance compared to the boron-free alloy. This improvement was attributed to that the boron addition enhanced the grain boundary strength and refined the grain size of the matrix. However, the cavitation erosion rate of the 0.6 wt.% boron specimen was higher than that of the 0.3 wt.% boron specimen. The higher erosion rate of the 0.6 wt.% boron was due to the larger carbide volume in the matrix.