Cavitation erosion resistance of various material systems

Advancement in both the design and construction of high-speed ships necessitates the evaluation of cavitation erosion resistant materials. Given their weight advantages, aluminum and laminated composite materials are often chosen as construction materials for high-speed designs. Historically, neither of these materials performs well in a cavitating environment. The objective of this effort is to evaluate potential cavitation erosion protection alternatives. Screening of the various material alternatives was performed using a modified ASTM G32 ultrasonically induced cavitation test method. A relative ranking is provided for materials including metals, composites, elastomers, polymers, and hard ceramic coatings using the maximum erosion rate as a parameter. A potential solution identified during this study involves the use of a durable elastomer material as a protective barrier. Results also show that a sandwich core composite system can be used to increase the cavitation erosion resistance of laminated composite materials.