Degradation Through Erosion: Mechanistic Studies on IN-718 Superalloy Under Hot Air Jet Conditions

IN718 is a Nickel-based superalloy, widely used in high-temperature applications such as aircraft, and land-based and marine turbines. This technical paper deals with high-temperature erosion behavior and its mechanism of IN718. The erosion mechanism of the IN718 was studied using hot air jet erosion experiments at 800 °C with varying parameters such as angle of impingement and erodent velocity. Characterization of the eroded samples was done using SEM micrographs and high-resolution universal tribometer to determine the erosion mechanisms. SEM micrographs of eroded samples reveal that lip formation, cutting, and ploughing are the dominant erosion mechanisms for IN718 at 45° angle of impingement, while at 90°, it is lip extrusion followed by flattening of lip and detachment of platelet. These mechanisms eventually retard the particle impact velocity, thus enhancing erosion resistance.