| Although Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can be applied to predict erosion in many complex geometries, its accuracy has been questionable for many applications. This research effort is aimed at the improvement, validation, and application of the CFD-based erosion prediction procedure. CFD, particle velocity measurements and erosion test data are used to validate and determine if CFD-based erosion modeling is a viable and accurate method for predicting solid particle erosion. Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) is used to measure both fluid and particle velocities in a direct impact test section. The LDV data is used to validate the fluid velocity field and particle trajectories predicted by the CFD software and good agreement is obtained. High sensitivity electrical-resistance (ER) probes are used to measure erosion rates in addition to traditional weight loss measurements, and the data is used to validate erosion equations used in CFD simulations. A new erosion equation based on previous work conducted at the Erosion/Corrosion Research Center (E/CRC) is proposed and examined along with several other erosion equations using extensive experimental data. The new E/CRC erosion equation and another erosion equation from literature give comparable results and perform better than other equations for most cases. The current particle tracking procedure of the CFD software gives inaccurate particle trajectories in near-wall region for some applications. Two modifications to the particle tracking procedure are proposed and implemented into the CFD software and significant improvement of erosion prediction is achieved by applying these modifications. |
