Numerical Simulation and Experimental Research of Spatial Volume Distribution and Velocity Changes of Abrasive Suspension Jet Based on LES + VOF + DEM

Abstract

The machining accuracy and cutting ability of abrasive suspension jet (ASJ) are affected by the spatial volume distribution and velocity changes of jet flow and abrasives in the free jet area outside the nozzle. In this paper, large eddy simulation (LES) flow model, volume of fluid (VOF) multiphase flow model and discrete element model (DEM) were used to simulate the flow field characteristics of ASJ. The spatial volume distribution and velocity changes of jet flow and abrasives under 10[Formula: see text]MPa jet pressure were studied and the model validation experiments were carried out. In the comparison between the numerical simulation results and the experimental results, it was found that the average error of the percentage of central jet flow is 3.4%, the percentage of central abrasive particles is 3.0% and the velocity of abrasive particles is 4.2%. The physical structure of the numerical model is fixed (so it does not support abrasive injection jet (AIJ)), and the material physical parameters, initial conditions and boundary conditions are editable. Therefore, it can be used to predict the degree of water divergence, abrasives divergence and abrasives velocity attenuation of ASJ with different jet pressure and abrasive types. This numerical model can provide guidance for the parameter setting of ASJ machining process in order to obtain better machining accuracy and cutting ability.