Finite Element Modelling of Erosion Parameters in Boiler Components

Abstract

Erosion wear of boiler components in power plant industry is a critical factor in predicting the life and durability of such components. In the aggressive environment, failure of components is accelerated by erosion wear. Various erosion resistant coatings have been developed in the recent past to improve the life of such components subjected to erosive wear. Among the various types of coatings, the development of WC-Co ceramic coatings for the protection against erosion wear require understanding of their complex failure mechanisms occurring during solid particle impact. Many experimental works have been done to find the effect of different parameters on the erosion wear of the WC-Co coatings however such data is insufficient as newer composition and processing methods are being developed every day. Further, experimentation requires a lot of human effort, machine hours, sophisticated equipment and is time consuming. The simulation of the erosion process parameters in available finite element modelling software enables the prediction of erosion behavior of different combination of materials. The factors affecting the erosion wear of WC-Co coating such as the particle size, the velocity of impacting particles, the coating thickness, angle of impact and the coating composition are considers in this work. The results for erosion wear are obtained and analysed using the Hashish model for erosion wear.