Testing and modeling of particle size effect on erosion of steel and cobalt-based alloys

Direct impingement (DI) erosion testing of steel and cobalt-based alloys is conducted with particles entrained in air and water. The tests are performed using 75- and 300-μm silica particles with three particle velocities and five impact angles. The mass loss results are used to develop an empirical equation that contains an explicit exponential term for the particle size effect. The erosion equation obtained from the gas jet experiments is implemented into a CFD solver with Lagrangian particle tracking for the liquid-submerged geometry. The CFD-based erosion predictions agree fairly with the experimental measurement for both particles. Strong effect has been observed for the exponential correction term in the erosion equation for liquid-solid flow cases; particularly with small particles at low impact velocities.