A comparative Study of the Erosive Wear Caused by Organic and Inorganic Abrasive Particles

Abstract In this study, erosion tests were conducted to evaluate the abrasivity of organic particles to produce wear on a material surface with higher hardness. The novelty of this research work was that pistachio shells, which are usually waste that ends up in the garbage, were collected, ground and sieved to obtain a sufficient quantity of pistachio angular particles to be used productively to perform these wear tests. Additionally, sea shells were thought of as an alternative to organic abrasives, and these were ground, sieved and prepared to be able to carry out the testing. The erosion tests conducted based on ASTM G76 and SEM images showed typical wear mechanisms such as high plastic deformation (material displacement) characterized by micro-cutting and micro-ploughing actions, grooves with lifted lips in the edges as pistachio grits employed to run the tests. On the other hand, a conventional abrasive as glass bead particles caused huge craters, broken and smeared flakes, ploughing and circumferential cracks on the AISI 420 stainless steel surfaces. The highest erosion rates were reached as glass beads were employed to run the erosion tests. AFM technique was used to show the surface variations after the erosive impacts. The eroded scars produced by pistachio and sea shells allowed us to remark that the proposed organic abrasives could be used for polishing, surface finishing and cleaning applications on surfaces of mechanical elements that are dirty or rusty. This was due to their low density, which led to low and very superficial erosion damage.