Cavitation erosion influence on fatigue life of a high strength structural steel

Abstract Cavitation erosion is a severe phenomenon of hydrodynamic equipment, determining their removal from use due to the continuous damage of the materials from which they are made. Intensive research is carried out to characterize the cavitation erosion phenomenon and also to determine the cavitation erosion strength of materials. These researches highlighted that the material damage through cavitation is characterized by fracture mechanisms specific to low-cycle fatigue. Few studies are reported on the combined action of cavitation erosion and mechanical loads. For this reason, the paper presents a study on the influence of cavitation erosion on the fatigue behaviour of a structural high-strength steel. Fatigue tests were performed on two sets of samples, eroded by cavitation and non-eroded. The results highlighted a different influence of cavitation erosion on fatigue life of the material, depending on the magnitude of the variable stress.