A comparative study of ductile and brittle materials due to single angular particle impact

A comparative study of ductile and brittle materials due to a single angular particle impact is conducted. The OFHC copper and float glass are selected as the representation for ductile and brittle target respectively. An erosion model based on FE-SPH method is validated by comparing with original measured data from pioneering investigators and practical glass erosion experiments performed in our laboratory. Predictions over a wide range of incident parameters allow the study on the effect of incident orientation theta(i). It shows that theta(i) has a great effect on crater formation of ductile material. It also affects the ejection of crack chips as well as the degradation extent of brittle surface. For ductile erosion, the phenomenon chip break-off arises when particle arrives with oblique incidence. For brittle erosion, the crack formation and propagation is primarily discussed that dominants the subsurface damage of the target. It is also revealed that the kinetic energy transferred from the impacting particles to the ductile surface is dissipated into material deformation or chipping, while the kinetic energy of brittle erosion is transferred into material cracking. This work first realizes the glass erosion experiment to demonstrate the high sensitivity of brittle material on incident parameters during the impact process. The results also provide a further understanding of solid particle erosion mechanisms.