Magnitude and Location of Maximum Erosion in S-Bend With Water-Sand Mixture

Solid particle erosion is a process that removes material from the inner surface of flow handling devices by repeated impact of entrained particles in the flow. Erosion is a leading cause of unpredicted and premature failure within different industrial equipment such as pumps, pipes, valves and fittings. Understanding the magnitude and location of erosion in the geometry is essential to the prevention of failure. S-bend geometry is used to redirect flows in automotive, chemical processing, oil, and food handling industries. An investigation was conducted using both CFD and experimentation methods to identify the location of maximum erosion. Three different s-bend geometries with 12.7 mm inside diameter and r/D ratios of 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 were used in the current study. Investigations were performed at three different water velocities each with six different particle sizes ranging from 50 to 300 microns. Due to multiple constraints associated with the test loop, one s-bend geometry was used in the experiment with 12.7 mm inside diameter and an r/D ratio of 1.5. CFD analysis and experimental results showed reasonably good agreement.