Stress-strain relation for water-driven particle erosion of quasi-brittle materials

This paper is concerned with the behaviour of quasi-brittle materials erode d by water-driven particles (WDP). Determined are the compressive stress-st rain curves for the material. The measured relations are approximated by pa rabolic regression. The areas under these curves are then used to character ise the specific energy absorption capability of the investigated materials . Erosion is then investigated by WDP with varying water pressures and expo sure time. The depth of penetration, the material volume loss, and the kerf geometry are measured. Based on these measurements, the specific energy of the erosion process is calculated. A characteristic efficiency number Phi is then defined and estimated for all materials at different erosion condit ions. It is shown that this parameter effectively characterises the erodabi lity of the materials. Moreover, relations are found between the characteri stic erosion parameters, such as threshold pressure, machinability number, depth of penetration, material removal rate, and the specific energy absorp tion capability. A preliminary phenomenological model based on the relation ship between crack propagation processes and energy absorption capability i s developed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.