The cavitation erosion corrosion behaviour of ZQMn12-8-3-2 manganese-nickel-aluminum bronze and ZHMn55- 3-1 manganese-brass was investigated by mass loss, electrochemical measurements （polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy） and the cavitation damaged surfaces were observed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The results showed that ZQMn12-8-3-2 had better cavitation erosion resistance than ZHMn55-3-1. After the cavitation erosion for 6 h, the cumulative mass loss of ZQMn12-8-3-2 was about 1/3 that of ZHMn55-3-1. The corrosion current density of ZQMn12-8-3-2 was less than that of ZHMn55-3-1 under both static and cavitaiton condition. The free-corrosion potentials of ZQMn12-8-3-2 and ZHMn55-3-1 were all shifted in positive direction under cavitation condition compared to static condition. In the total cumulative mass loss under cavitation condition, the pure erosion played a key role for the two tested materials （74% for ZHMn55-3-1 and 60% for ZQMn12-8-3-2）, and the total synergism between corrosion and erosion of ZQMn12-8-3-2 （39%） was larger than that of ZHMn55-3-1 （23%）. The high cavitation erosion resistance of ZQMn12-8-3-2 was mainly attributed to its lower stacking fault energy （SFE）, the higher microhardness and work-hardening ability as well as the favorable propagation of cavitation cracks for ZQMn12-8-3-2, i.e., parallel to the surface rather than perpendicular to the surface for ZHMn55-3-1.
In order to investigate the distribution of Cu and Mg, and the effect of Cu on the microstructure of steels, manganese steels containing various Cu contents were annealed at 1260, 1100 and 1000℃, respectively, for I h and subsequently cooled to room temperature in the furnace to simulate the pre-rolling anneal. The results indicate that Cu is not microscopically segregated in the annealed steels. The scanning electron microscopy （SEM） observation shows that the main microstructure consist of ferrite and pearlite; the percentage of pearlite in the steels increases with increasing Cu content. The grain size reduces with the decrease of the annealing temperature. The results of energy dispersive X-ray analysis （EDXA） suggest that Cu content in pearlite is higher than that in ferrite, demonstrating that the microstructure-segregation of Cu occurred. However, the cast specimens show that Cu content in MnS and S-rich phases is high. In addition, Cu of 0.2%-0.4% could improve the distribution of MnS and S-rich inclusions. The optimal Cu content in steels and the optimal annealing temperature between 1100-1200℃ were determined.
