NUMERICAL ANALYSIS ON LOCAL IMPACT PARAMETERS AFFECTING SLURRY EROSION IN PIPE BENDS

The conveying of solids through slurry pipeline causes erosion, which limits the service life. In this work, an analysis of the effect of particle impact parameters on surface erosion of a 90° bend has been carried out. Three-dimensional numerical modeling is performed using the Eulerian-Lagrangian approach to simulate the solid-liquid flow in the bend. The variation in particle impact parameters, namely, impact velocity, impact angle, and impact frequency, at different circumferential locations and bend curvature are examined. Further, the influence of the impact variables on the erosion of the bend is examined using the available erosion model developed for low-impact velocity of solid-liquid flow. The location of the maximum erosion on the bend surface is found at bend extrados at an angle of 88°. The angles of particle impact angles on bend are found to vary within 20°.