Complete seawater valve material evaluation includes the assessment of the erosion resistance of candidate valve materials. This paper presents design, construction, calibration and preliminary test
results of a laboratory seawater erosion test loop for 1-inch diameter specimens simulating butterfly valve disks in 12 ft/sec (3.7 m/s) flowing seawater bearing a 1% by weight loading of fine sand. The relative erosion resistance of the candidate materials is discussed, based on mass loss measurements over a 100 - 160 hour test period.