Erosion of a Tube by Gas-Particle Flow

A numerical model for particle-laden flow in a tube has been developed which predicts the erosive wear of the tube wall by the action of the impinging particles. Empirical relationships are used to correlate the particles’ momentum before and after impact with material properties. Erosion of a straight duct conveying a particle-laden stream was studied as experimental verification of the model. Specifically, an aluminum tube was eroded by much harder spherical particles and the resulting wear pattern compared with that predicted by the model. A close correlation was found. This is a first step in modeling more complex erosion effects in equipment in which two- and three-dimensional flows predominate.