In this study, the erosion wear behaviour of AA5083 aluminium alloy is investigated by slurry pot erosion method. Various sizes of silica sand particles are used to evaluate the erosion wear behaviour of AA5083 alloy by measuring the mass loss. By employing Taguchi L9 orthogonal array, experiments were conducted and optimum process parameters are identified by analysing results of erosion test. Based on the ANOVA, the significant contribution of input parameters is identified. The dominant material removal mechanisms are observed through an optical microscope images, and reasons are discussed in detail. © 2021, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.