Erosion resistance of engineering ceramics and comparative assessment through Wiederhorn and Evans equations

Abstract Resistance to erosion is one of the most desirable characteristics of materials that must undergo a tribological interaction, where engineering ceramics play an important role given their intrinsically enhanced mechanical properties. The fracture toughness and hardness of Al 2 O 3 (alumina), ZrO 2 (zirconia) and Si 3 N 4 (silicon nitride) were compared with their erosion rate when subjected to solid particle jet wear from different incidence angles (30°, 60° and 90°) at room and elevated temperatures (25 °C and 850 °C), aiming to compare the results with the analytical Wiederhorn and Evans equations. Erosion rates are directly related to fracture toughness, but not with hardness. Scanning electron microscopy allowed to identify particular fracture mechanisms of each material at each temperature, especially for ZrO 2 given its temperature-induced polymorphism confirmed by X-ray diffraction tests.