CHARACTERIZA nON OF mE CAVITAnON POTENTIAL OF PYROL YI1C CARBON

-) carbon. A cavitating water jet method was used to examine weight loss versus time as compared to other engineering materials. An ultrasonic horn method was used to describe cavitation erosion morphology of pyrolytic carbon surfaces. The cavitation behavior of pyrolytic carbon by both methods. was highly variable. Cavitation resistance in the water jet model was initially high, but weight loss accelerated with increased exposure times. A microcracking phenomenon was observed to contribute to the accelerating weight loss. The ultrasonic horn model showed variable cavitation, with some samples substantially cavitated after 9 minutes of exposure and some essentially uncavitated after 12 minutes of exposure. Morphologically, cavitation damage occurred to a greater or lesser extent even over the surface of a single specimen. Mechanical and physical explanations of these results are discussed. )