THE PERFORMANCE OF MARINE COATINGS AND PIPE MATERIALS UNDER FLUID-BORNE SAND EROSION

A program of tests is described in which pipe materials and steel subs trates with various coatings were subjected to fluid-borne sand partic le erosion conditions. Sand-water slurry jets were used at velocities between 2-30 m/s and at a jet impingement angle of 90 degrees to creat e a range of erosive conditions to evaluate the performance of the pip e materials carbon steel AISI 1020, stainless steel AISI 316, Cupro-Ni ckel 90/10, medium density polyethylene and glass reinforced plastic t est coupons. Further tests at an impingement angle of 30 degrees and a t 10 and 20 m/s velocity compared the performance of the carbon and st ainless steels with various polymeric, metallic and ceramic coatings. Flexible polyurethane seems to have promise for future use in fluid-bo rne sand particle erosion environments. The erosion mechanisms of flex ible polyurethane have been identified as micro-cutting at low angle i mpingement and fatigue/crack propagation at normal impact. (C) 1998 El sevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.