Concrete Erosion Modelling by Water Jet using Discrete Phase Method

Abstract

To a great extent, for hydraulic structures,the durabilityrelies upon the resistance that the concrete surface offers to mechanical wear. The surface damage caused by the process of uninterrupted material removal,induced by the impact of the water-borne solid particles, is termed hydro-abrasion. In nearly all hydraulic structures, this kind of progressive deterioration of the concrete surfaces is observed, in different intensities. Obviously, such hydro-abrasive concrete wearing normally results in areduction in the service life of the hydro-technical facility, and consequently because of the repairs required, thenon-functioning of the facility during the repair period results in an expenditurespike. The influence exerted by the flow inclination angle was determined in this study. Numerical estimations were made of the four different angles (30°, 45°, 60°and 90°) employing the ANSYS software and discret phase model (DPM) to simulate the fluid particles. From the findings of numerical investigations, it was clear that the maximum erosion rate can be reached when the flow inclination angle is 45° while the lowest rate can be achieved at a flow inclinationangle of 30°.