Slurry erosion of steel – Review of tests, mechanisms and materials

Slurry erosion is a severe problem and a major concern for slurry handling equipment, as it leads to considerable expense caused by failures, downtime and material replacement costs. Slurry erosion is dependent on several parameters such as slurry properties, service conditions, and material properties. Hence, much high-quality research has been aimed at obtaining a fundamental understanding of this complex failure mode and developing new test methodologies and erosion resistant materials to minimize erosion rates. This is a review of the literature covering research into the effects of the main parameters influencing the slurry erosion of different types of steels, focusing on those which have been developed for pipeline applications. The types of bench-scale erosion test rigs, the mechanisms involved, and the behavior of different microstructures under slurry erosion conditions are discussed.