Cavitation Erosion of X5CrNi18-10 Austenitic Stainless Steel Alloyed with TiC

This work presents investigations of cavitation resistance of X5CrNi18-10 austenitic stainless steel after alloying its surface by CO₂ laser beam. Laser beam machining was performed in two variants. In the first case, surface layer was enriched with TiC in amount of 1.55 % wt. and in the second one in amount of 3.97 % wt. The obtained results revealed that content of 3.97 % wt. TiC caused an increase of plastic deformations resistance of surface under the cavitation loading and simultaneous increase in embrittlement of alloyed layer.