See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/279211294

Development of mechanistic erosion equation

for solid particles
ARTICLE in WEAR MAY 2015
Impact Factor: 1.91 DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2015.01.031

CITATIONS

READS

58

4 AUTHORS, INCLUDING:
Hadi Arabnejad

Amir Mansouri

University of Tulsa

University of Tulsa

9 PUBLICATIONS 12 CITATIONS

10 PUBLICATIONS 12 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

SEE PROFILE

Available from: Hadi Arabnejad

Retrieved on: 14 December 2015

Wear 332-333 (2015) 10441050

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Wear
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wear

Development of mechanistic erosion equation for solid particles

H. Arabnejad n, A. Mansouri, S.A. Shirazi, B.S. McLaury
Erosion/Corrosion Research Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 17 September 2014
Received in revised form
9 December 2014
Accepted 14 January 2015

A semi-mechanistic model for the erosion of different target materials due to solid particles has been
proposed based on the experimental data from direct impingement testing. As a rst step in erosion
experiments, particle velocity has been measured with Particle Image Velocimeter (PIV) at different gas
velocities. A new mechanistic model, with incorporated empirical constants, has been developed by
assuming that erosion caused by particle impact is due to two mechanisms, cutting and deformation.
This hypothesis is supported by the SEM images of the surface of the eroded specimen at different
locations. Empirical constants have been obtained for different target materials using data from erosion
tests with 150 mm sand particles. In contrast to the angle functions that are currently being used for all
particles and impact velocities, the angle dependence in the new model changes with the particle shape
and velocity and showed fair agreement with experimental data.
& 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Erosion equation
Mechanistic model
Solid particle
PIV
SEM

1. Introduction
Erosion of materials due to the impingement of solid particles
is one form of wear degradation that jeopardizes integrity of the
ow boundaries and functionality of moving components in
particle-contained ows. The application includes but not limited
to production, process, and transportation facilities in petroleum,
power plant and aerospace industries. Sand production from oil
and gas reservoirs may cause rapid erosion and wear of production
and process components and transportation lines [1]. So, predicting erosion caused by the sand particles of varying sizes and
shapes is of great importance from both economical and safety
aspects.
A comprehensive approach to predict erosion damage for a
desired geometry and ow condition has three major steps: ow
modeling, particle tracking, and erosion prediction. The ow
solution and particle impact speed and angle may be approximated from simplied models or obtained more accurately from
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Generally in a
CFD simulation of particle erosion, an EulerianLagrangian model
is employed. In other words, the uid ow solution is obtained
from NavierStokes equations (Eulerian approach) and then particle traces are determined using a Lagrangian particle tracking
scheme. The CFD and particle tracking are done to determine
particle impact speed and angle that affect erosion of materials.
The next step is to substitute the impact speed and angle in an
appropriate erosion equation and nd the erosion ratio. The nal

Corresponding author. Tel.: 1 918 631 2997; fax: 1 918 631 2397.
E-mail address: hadi-arabnejadkhanouki@utulsa.edu (H. Arabnejad).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2015.01.031
0043-1648/& 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

step is to multiply the erosion ratio by the mass of impacting

particles to nd the erosion rate. The erosion equation, which is a
function of target material specications, particle properties and
particle impact condition, is very important in this calculation
procedure. Currently, erosion prediction models including CFDbased erosion models or a simplied version such as Sand
Production Pipe Saver (SPPS) program [2] which is developed at
the Erosion/Corrosion Research Center (E/CRC) rely on empirical
erosion equations. These equations do not account for the particle
size and shape accurately, and they have been developed for each
erodent particle and target material separately. Zhang et al. [3]
implemented an empirical erosion equation which had been
obtained from gas testing into a CFD code to predict the erosion
ratio occurring on a at specimen and bend for air and water
ows. Also, Wong et al. utilized an empirical erosion equation
originally proposed by Chen [5] to predict the erosion ratio in a
pipe annular cavity via CFD simulation [4]. In addition, many other
works are conducted to predict the erosion rate in various
geometries, by coupling the CFD simulation and an erosion
equation [68]. Parsi et al. [9] reviewed some of these erosion
equations as well as other modeling approaches in the literature.
Mechanistic erosion equations that are available in the literature are developed based on the calculation of the displaced
volume by a single particle or energy dissipation during particle
impact. Finnie et al. [10] developed an erosion equation for ductile
materials based on the material cutting volume by a single
particle. Bitter [11,12] used energy balance and proposed that
erosion is proportional to the part of the particle kinetic energy
that is absorbed by the target material and caused plastic deformation. Sheldon [13] developed an equation based on single
particle indentations for spherical and angular particles for normal