Methods of Geometric Surface Structure Measurement of AW-2017A Alloy after Cavitation Wear

Evaluation of the cavitation erosion resistance of structural materials is based on selected measurement method. Destruction of the sample surface caused by cavitation phenomenon can be evaluated in laboratory conditions by measuring few quantitative parameters e.g. loss of mass of sample, quantity or weight of detached particles, the area of the worn material, the average and the maximum depth of cavitation erosion, the change of surface roughness or the number of cavities on the surface. In this paper optical and profilometry methods of geometric surface structure measurement of AW-2017A alloy after cavitation wear, were presented and compared. The optical method was carried out on Nikon Eclipse MA200 light microscope and profilometry method was performed using TOPO 01P v3D profilometer.