Affiliation:
1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. 02139
Abstract
An experimental and theoretical study on erosion of a metallic plate by solid particles entrained in a liquid jet has been performed. The test section involved a two-phase flow jet of liquid water and silica-sand impinging on a metallic plate upon which erosion occurred. In combining the fluid mechanics of particle suspension in a liquid and a model of weight removal from the plate (by a single abrasive particle), an analytical approach is developed to determine the distribution and amount of erosion along a metallic plate. This model of erosion distribution along the metallic plate can be used as a tool to predict erosive damage in industrial equipment such as pipe bends, elbows, subsurface safety valves, and pipe contractions.