As a particle impinges the target surface, a crater and a mound around the crater are formed. The size of the crater and the mound varies with particle parameters such as particle size, shape, impact velocity, and angle. The particle impact velocities were measured using a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system. A microscopic surface profiler measured the depths and volumes of the crater and the mounds formed on the surface. Deep and narrow craters were observed on the surface when impacted by sharp particles. However, for round particles, the craters were found to be wider and more significant in volume. However, the ratio of the volume of the mound to the crater volumes was much larger for sharper particles than for the rounded particles. The mechanistic erosion model developed previously was modified to determine the deformation caused due to single particle impact and was compared to experimental measurements. The model predictions were found to be comparable to experimental data for the crater depth. In contrast, the original model was in fair agreement with the trend of the data for crater volume, but the magnitudes were off only by a constant factor.
In many industrial applications such as oil and gas production, mining, and renewable energy systems such as concentrated solar power (CSP), solid particles impact the walls of the pipeline, piping components, and equipment resulting in wear and degradation of the component material. Erosion is the dynamic process of removing material from a solid surface due to the repeated impact of solid particles. When a single solid particle impacts the surface, the material deforms, and eventually, the material is removed upon successive impacts of particles. Therefore, it is essential to predict the erosion behavior caused by solid particles for various applications. The solid particles that cause the material loss are of various sizes, shapes, and hardness and may impact at different speeds and angles. Erosion also depends on the properties of the target material that the particles impact. However, developing a comprehensive model requires a detailed understanding of the amount of deformed volume to account for these parameters influencing erosion. Therefore, the proposed model in this paper helps determine the deformed volume caused by a single particle at diluted concentrations at which the particle-particle concentrations are neglected.
