Sensitizing Effects of Ti Alloying Contents on Damage Behavior of Austenitic Stainless Steel Exposed to Ultrasonic Vibratory Cavitation

The cavitation damage characteristics of austenitic stainless steel with different concentrations of Ti were investigated. The microstructure of the alloys was observed with optical microscope to identify its correlation with cavitation resistance. Hardness of the alloys was measured to examine its contribution to cavitation damage. It was found that the microstructure played a more significant role in cavitation damage behavior of austenitic stainless steel with Ti than the hardness. The findings in this study revealed that Ti addition in austenitic stainless steel may present either a beneficial or detrimental effect on cavitation damage behavior, depending on the microstructural characteristics. In particular, Ti content of 1.0% represented the most deteriorated cavitation characteristics due to the formation of relatively coarse precipitates. Therefore, control of Ti concentration is essential for marine application of austenitic stainless steel.