Erosion-corrosion of Cr3C2-Ni cermets in salt water

Chromium carbide based cermets are popular materials in different industrial applications due to their unique properties. These materials have outstanding erosion resistance up to 1000 °C and excellent oxidation resistance up to 850 °C. Their corrosion resistance in different corroding mediums is favorably higher than that of conventional WC hard metals or stainless steel. These materials can be applied as coatings with properties comparable to bulk materials. In this work different regimes with prevailing role of erosion or corrosion processes were found. Erosion-corrosion maps for material selection were constructed and discussed. The weight loss of the samples during simultaneous effect of corrosion and wear processes was found to be complicated and cannot be evaluated as simple summation of these two processes. SEM study of material surfaces before and after erosion-corrosion tests were conducted and the prevailing mechanisms of the material behaviour were evaluated.