Erosion Performance Evaluation of Coated SiC-Reinforced Polymer Composites Using Taguchi’s Methodology
摘要
The naval industry is popularizing polymer composites due to their effectiveness as propellers, turbine blades, and underwater structures. However, the marine and industrial applications expose the components of polymer composites to corrosive microbial interaction and surface erosion. The various metabolic reactions by surface microorganisms may deteriorate the substratum. On the other hand, erosion occurs when erodent particles strike over the material surface continuously. Focusing on erosion, the present paper aims at analysis of erosion performance of electroless-coated SiC-reinforced polymer composites through solid particle erosion tests. The erosion test was conducted on a developed abrasive jet erosion setup under varying conditions as per ASTM G76 standard. The reinforcement type, erodent pressure, standoff distance, and nozzle diameter were selected as process parameters, whereas weight loss was selected as a response parameter. The ANOVA demonstrates that pressure, workpiece type, and standoff distance affect erosion loss by 57.98%, 18.16%, and 17.45%, respectively. The model's R2 value is over 90%, indicating that it performs better and can forecast erosion behavior within experimental values.