ABRASION OF 0.85-PERCENT C-STEEL UNDER NATURAL HAWAIIAN MARINE CONDITIONS

A study was undertaken to obtain design data for possible damage scena rios for a planned deep-sea power cable between two Hawaiian islands. The combined results for abrasion and corrosion-erosion of cold drawn 0.85% C-steel armor wire in seawater against seabottom rocks indicate that failure of the proposed design in the desired design life due to these mechanisms is of only intermediate probability. The results also have some general applicability to abrasive wear by and of natural me dia. The steel and the rock wear simultaneously, with the rock wearing about 150 times faster than the steel. The results can be explained b y considering the armor wire as a hard tool causing wear of the rock w hile abrasion of the steel is caused solely by the hard olivine grains which constitute 6 percent of the rock. Both adjusted wear rates are comparable to laboratory data on abrasion by hard abrasives.