F a i l u r e A n a l y s i s

C a s e S t u d y : E r o s i o n

The microscopic features of cavitation erosion and the solution

in the plastic injection moulding machines
 M e e t T h e Te a m

Anissa Wijayati Atik Setyani

1706990331 1706082343
 CONTENT
CASE STUDY
Background
Result and Discussion
1 3

INTRODUCTION REFERENCE
Cavitation erosion 2 All the literature study to
support this presentation
Injection molding
3
Cavitation Erosion Introduction

• The cavitation process contains two aspects:

a) The vapor bubble formation, due to the sudden reduction in fluid
pressure
b) The bubble collapse, due to the fluid pressure increases in the
downstream
• The bubble implosion generates broadband high frequency vibration.
• Identify cavitation issues by vibration analysis
• Sometimes misinterpret as flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) because both
the microscopic features have not been well-established
 Introduction

Cavitation Erosion Flow-Accelerated Corrosion (FAC)

• A mechanical process of material • A corrosion process in which the

removal through bubble implosion.
• Often combined with corrosions in
industry.
• Pure cavitation erosion is
particularly rare in the real world.
• “Hammer like’’ blow by the bubble
implosion
protective oxide film is dissolved
by the fluid flow.
• Irrelevant to bubble implosion.
• FAC may be combined with
cavitation erosion.
• FAC generates the horseshoe pits
or scalloped appearance

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 Introduction
Cavitation Erosion

Their features vary with the material’s hardness

a) For softer materials, plastic deformation usually occurs with bubble implosion.
b) For harder materials, cavitation leads to fatigue cracks.
c) Cavitation erosion on aluminium impeller formed smooth pits.
d) Cavitation erosion on diesel engine injector nozzle formed rough pits.
e) Cavitation erosion on cylinder liner became deeply pitted and appeared to be
spongy.
f) Cavitation erosion on booster pump produced plastic deformation and
microcracks which resulted in the large rough pits.
g) Stainless steels, copper alloy, and titanium alloy to Al 2O3. The features varied
from rough surface craters to smooth scalloped appearance.
Injection Moulding: Nozzle
Introduction

• The nozzle’s material: stainless steel and aluminium alloy

• The function of the nozzle is to handle both coolant and compressed air,
which are separated by an O-ring inside the nozzle
 Case Study: Indication of Failure
• Service life: 2005 – 2011
• Apperance: Rusty/muddy in the coolant
• The consultant’s recommendation: Applied a corrosion inhibitor (Maxiguard)

Maintenance
Result
• Flushing with • The aluminium alloy Record
Drewclean 26 and components in the
added Maxiguard • Bubbles appearing in nozzle units had • The aluminium
into coolant system the sight glass of the failed alloy components
flow meter failed in only a
few months of
service (premature
Treatment Investigation failure)
 Case Study: Indication of Failure

• No nozzle failure occurred before the flushing and the chemical

dosing.
• The client’s hypothesis: Chemical corrosion caused by either
Drewclean 26 or Maxiguard in the coolant.
• The client requested the author to resolve the corrosion problem.
• The author conducted a site investigation in the plant.
• Smooth pits on the failed region of the aluminium alloy components
• The pitting location was limited to the tube tip region, not in the
entire tube inner surface. As the bubble’s appearance was associated
with the nozzle failure, therefore, it was almost certain that
cavitation erosion was involved in the failure. However, other
corrosions could also combine with the cavitation erosion in the
failures.
 C a s e S t u d y : T h e G a l v a n i c C o r r o s i o n Te s t
• Galvanic corrosion occurs as one metal in contact
with another, more noble metals in a corrosive
electrolyte.
• One of the principles in machine design is to
avoid selecting dissimilar metals in the same unit.
• There is approximately 0.7 V of the potential
difference between aluminium alloy and the none-
passive 304 stainless steel, but the chemicals are
inhibitive, the galvanic corrosion would be
dramatically diminished due to the anode/cathode
have been polarized.
• The result of galvanic corrosion test: diminished
due to the polarization
• No corrosion has been observed on the sample
surface after the test
 Case Study: The Microscopic features of the
cavitation erosion on the non-anodized Al alloy
• The erosion surface appears to have
large round and overlapped pits in the
size of 1–2 mm. The pit surface is
very smooth, and is not covered with
any corrosion products.
• These features indicate that the
surface was mechanically attacked by
the bubble implosion.
• As aluminium is a soft metal, material
could be directly removed from the
surface by the implosion, forming the
large round pits with smooth surface.
Fig. 6.The macro features of the cavitation erosion on the non-
anodised aluminium alloy component (stereomicroscope 10x).
 Case Study: ESEM examination on the eroded
surface

Fig. 8.The cluster pattern of the small round overlapped-pits on

Fig. 7.The cavitation erosion initial area and cavitation eroded area on
the non-anodised aluminium alloy component (ESEM 51x).
The very smooth surface in the pits further confirms the
mechanical removal process. In the areas where
cavitation erosion initiated, there are the patterns of the
very small pits in clusters.
cavitation erosion initial area of the non-anodised component (ESEM
400x)
Fig. 8 displays the details of the cluster patterns. It is
composed of the round overlapped pits in a parallel line
pattern, forming ‘ditches’. The average size of the small
pits is approximately 100lm. These small round pits
could be associated with the small bubbles imploding
 Case Study: ESEM examination on the eroded
surface

From the above findings, it can be

speculated that there may be different sizes
of the bubbles in the cavitation process. As
different bubble implosion releases
different energy, the size of the pits should
correspond to the size of the bubbles
involved in their formation.
Fig. 9.The micro pit on the small pit surface of the non-anodised
component (ESEM 1600x)

Some micro pits can be distinguished on the pit surface.

The size of the micro pits is approximately 5lm. These
micro pits could be associated with other micro bubble
activities
 Case Study: The cavitation erosion on the
anodised aluminium alloy

Fig. 10. The cavitation erosion on the surface of the anodised Fig. 11.In situ EDS1 analysis results on the anodised surface.
aluminium alloy component (ESEM 400x).

The anodised film was gradually eroded away by the Fig 11. The main composition of the surface was Al2O3,
imploding bubbles. The small round pits can be which confirms that the surface was the anodised film.
discerned on the margin Trace amount of other elements could be from the
coolant chemicals
 Case Study: The cavitation erosion on the
anodised aluminium alloy
Fig. 12.In situ EDS2 analysis results on the margin of eroded
region.
EDS2 analysis results on the margin of eroded area.
These results indicate that the compositions still belong
to the anodised film. But the anodised film had
gradually eroded away through implosion
Fig. 13.In situ EDS3 analysis results on the eroded surface.
EDS3 analysis results on the bottom of the large pit.
These results show the increased aluminium content and
the decreased oxygen content, indicating that the
anodised film had been totally eroded by implosion
 Case Study: The rectifications
There are three stages in the cavitation process:
• The incubation stage
The incubation stage is an undetectable weight-loss period. Different materials have the different
incubation time in this stage
• The accumulation stage
Accelerated material removal occurs. The erosion rates vary significantly with different materials.
Literature indicates that the erosion rate in aluminium alloy is 10 time higher than that of stainless steels
• The attenuation stage
In attenuation stage, the erosion rate decreases due to rougher surface absorbing implosion impact
energy. For soft materials, such as aluminium alloy, no significant attenuation stage appears

In this case study, the most straightforward solution to the cavitation erosion is to replace the
aluminium alloy with stainless steel. Additionally, this solution would also totally remove the
possibility of galvanic corrosion as any material dissimilarity issue would be eliminated entirely.
 Case Study: The root causes of the bubble
formation
• The root cause of the bubble formation is due to the liquid pressure variations.
• The author believes that the changes of the liquid surface tension and vapour
pressures were the root cause of the cavitation erosion in this case study.
• The anti-foaming additives in turbine lubricant oils, can ‘‘kill’’ the fine bubbles.
Further research on
• The additives may find a different solution to cavitation rectification
 Case Study: Conclusions

• The premature failure of the nozzle unit in the plastic injection moulding
machines was through cavitation erosion.
• The microscopic features of the cavitation erosion on the soft aluminium alloy
have its own distinct characteristics.
• The root cause of the cavitation erosion was the alteration in surface tension
and the vapour pressures of the coolant due to the flush and dosing chemicals in
the maintenance process.
 REFERENCE

• Liu, W. 2014. The microscopic features of cavitation erosion and the

solution in the plastic injection moulding machines. Engineering
Failure Analysis. Elsevier. Vol 36. page 253 – 261.