Experimental investigation on rotating domain wear of hydrodynamic machine due to particulate flow

Abstract

The particulate flow through a hydrodynamic machine causes wear of the runner due to surface-particle interactions like sliding, rolling, and impinging at different angles. In the present work, experiments have been performed on rotor wear of a centrifugal slurry pump in a pilot plant test rig for three different sized particulate slurries at two flow rates and 3500 ppm solid concentration. Initially, the experiments were carried out to identify the wear prone zones inside the flow passage using a multilayer paint modelling method. Then the material loss due to wear is determined by fixing specimens at the grooves of identified zones along the rotor flow passage. The weight loss measurement of different specimens after the test is used to calculate the mass loss rate. Furthermore, the material removal mechanism of the rotor flow passage surface is analysed using the scanning electron microscope (SEM). It is observed that the wear at the leading edge of pressure side is contributed by abrasion grooves, deep plough and platelets formation together with some crack formation at the start of vane. The suction side zone is dominantly worn out by subsurface deformation with some minor scratches. Moreover, the flow field of the rotor flow passage is investigated through numerical modelling to correlate the particle impinging condition with wear behaviour. • Worn out zone of rotor is identified using paint wear modelling method. • The material loss has been measured along the identified worn out zones. • Effect of particle size and flow rate on the wear of rotor has been investigated. • Failure mechanism of worn out surfaces has been described using SEM micrographs. • The effect and cause of erosion wear are explained using multi-phase simulation.