The present work deals with the numerical study of particle erosion in pipe conduits, representing the process frequently encountered in coolant system configurations. Accordingly four preselected, widely-used erosion models are implemented into an open source computational fluid dynamic environment aiming at investigating their influence and quantifying their capability for predicting particle erosion. Additionally, the influence of the wall treatment, related especially to the particle-wall interaction, is discussed. Among a limited number of available reference databases for particle erosion process, the experimental study of Solnordal et al.1, investigating the particle erosion in a 90-degree pipe bend at a flow Reynolds number of Re = 538.000, is used as a reference for the present study. The outcome of the respective studies shows that with the exception of the model of Finnie18 the erosion predicted by majority of different models follows a similar pattern; appropriate choice of the model constants is of major importance for the quality of the results. Furthermore, the importance of the particle-wall-interaction along with the necessity to account for the secondary impacting particle, as considered within the enhanced particle-wall-interaction model by Sommerfeld & Huber2, is discussed.

Subject
Erosion models, Materials, Piping, Deformation, Degradation, Walls, Motion, Constants, Material degradation, Fluids, Cutting, Erosion, Computer based testing
Keywords:
Computational Fluid Dynamics, particle erosion, Reynolds stress model of turbulence, particle-wall-interaction
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2020
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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