Second-Moment Closure Modelling of Particle Erosion in a Pipe Elbow

The erosive surface degradation in pipes, representing e.g. the process frequently encountered in coolant systems, is studied computationally. Different widely-used erosion models are preselected and implemented into an open source computational fluid dynamic code aiming at investigating their influence and quantifying their capability for predicting particle erosion. Influence of the particle-wall interaction is discussed, as well as the necessity to account for the secondary particle impact. The background turbulence model adopted is the near-wall second-moment closure model accounting for both Reynolds-stress and stress-dissipation anisotropies (Jakirlic, Maduta, 2015, IJHFF 51 and Wegt, PhD, 2021). Among a limited number of available reference databases for particle erosion process, the high Reynolds number (Re=538.000) experimental study of Solnordal et al. (2015, Wear 36-337), investigating the 90-degree pipe elbow configuration is used as a reference for the present study. Both the first oval-shaped degradation footprint resulting from the first particle impact and the triangle-shaped one representing the outcome of the second particle impact have been returned in close agreement with the experimental findings. This relates also to their overlapping region.