Introduction. Reliability-critical components of equipment working in contact with high-speed liquid media (for example, turbine blades of hydroelectric power stations, pump impellers, ship propellers) are subjected to one of the types of wear – cavitation erosion. The current study aims to select and scientifically substantiate the type of coating and its structural-phase state for the effective protection of parts from cavitation erosion. Research methods. The study carries out a comparative analysis of differences in the cavitation erosion resistance of characteristic austenitic steels, in the form of bulk material (316L) and coatings (E308L, 60Cr8TiAl), used for protection against cavitation Arc surfacing, i.e. MMA and MIG, is used for depositing the coatings. The tests are carried out on an original installation for evaluating the cavitation resistance of materials with applying ultrasound and the electrical potential difference. Results and Discussion. The results show that the 60Cr8TiAl has a higher resistance to cavitation erosion than that of E308L and 316L by 4 and 10 times, respectively. The structural factors that determine the resistance to cavitation erosion damage are identified to analyze the reasons for the differences in material resistance. Firstly, a strong dependence of the cavitation erosion resistance of austenitic steels on the intensity of the deformation martensitic transformation, developing under the influence of cavitation, is confirmed. This structural transformation contributes to an increase in cavitation resistance of the surface layer. In metastable austenitic steel, a deformation martensite (α′) is formed in the surface layer during the initial test period. This causes an increase in hardness, dissipation of the energy of external action, and the appearance of compressive stresses that prevent the occurrence of microcracks. Subsequently, additional hardening of the previously formed dispersed crystals of α′-martensite occurs. In 60Cr8TiAl, these effects are significantly stronger than that of E308L and 316L due to the higher level of metastability of austenite and formation of carbon deformation martensite.

One of the intriguing recent results in the field of high-entropy alloys is the discovery of single-phase equiatomic multi-component Laves intermetallics. However, there is no clear understanding that a combination of chemical elements will form such high-entropy compounds. Here we contribute to understanding this issue by modifying the composition of duodenary TiZrHfNbVCrMoMnFeCoNiAl (12x) alloy in which we recently reported the fabrication of hexagonal C14 Laves phase. We consider three alloys based on 12x: 7x = 12x-VCrMoMnFe, 12x + Sc, 12x + Be and observe that all of them crystalize with the formation of C14 Laves phase as a dominant structure. We report that 12x + Be alloy reveals a single-phase C14 structure with a very high concentration of structural defects and ultra-fine dendritic microstructure with an almost homogenous distribution of the constituted elements over the alloy matrix. The analysis of electrical and magnetic properties reveals that the Laves phases are Curie-Weiss paramagnets, which demonstrate metallic conduction; 7x and 12x alloys also reveal a pronounced Kondo-like anomaly. Analysis of experimental data as well as ab initio calculations suggest that chemical complexity and compositional disorder cause strong s-d band scattering and thus the rather high density of d-states in the conduction band.