Abstract
The impact erosion tests were carried out in mercury by using the direct tension test apparatus converted the Split Hopkinson Bar method to investigate the formation behavior of the pits. The stainless steel specimen that was screwed at the end of the elastic bar was immersed in mercury. The polished surface of the specimen was eroded by tensile waves propagating through the interference of the solid and liquid metals. The relationship between the mass loss due to the pits formation and the shot number was described with a linear function in logarithm graph, and the mass loss depends on the applied stress level. The maximum pits were present around the center of the specimen and the pit was developed with the increase of the shot number. The distribution of the relatively large pits was very dependent on the position of specimen in the mercury container.
