Use of high-speed water flows for accelerated mechanical modelling of erosive wear of concrete surfaces

The article deals with an unconventional way of simulating the erosion of concrete surfaces by means of high-speed water flows. The proposed method allows the use of short-term experiments to predict the future failure of concrete elements in specific concrete mixtures exposed in practice to the action of fast-flowing fluids, whether as regards sewers, overfalls of water reservoirs, inlet channels of retention reservoirs, etc. The article shows results of experiments on disintegration of the surface layer of model concrete test specimens of various physical-mechanical properties that were exposed to various types of high-speed water flows. It has been demonstrated that the application of high-speed water flows significantly accelerates the degradation process of the surface layers. This simulation of the real situation can considerably shorten the time needed for the development and testing of new erosion-resistant construction elements.