Erosion is the energetic process of a (many) particle(s) or droplet(s) strike a surface leading to an irreversible change. High energy scenarios will immediate process plastic deformation or cracking, but the continuous and repetitive lower energy events can produce type of fatigue type scenario where the surface initial shows no obvious change, but ultimately will reach a threshold and begin to wear.
The most common source of erosion in an engineering context is the inclusion of hard particulates (such as sand) in liquid flows, such as oil-field extraction, mining and any pumping where particles are entrained, whether intentional or not.
Erosion can also occur in gas streams and are particularly problematic in high velocity flows as the kinetic energy can be significant, these include water droplet erosion of aero-engine fan blades and wind turbine blades (the latter is where the blade is moving quickly).
nCATS has a range of equipment for the study or erosion in liquid and gas streams, as well as instruments to simulate single particle impacts in a very well controlled and monitored manner.
nCATS Facility – erosion assessment equipment includes:
- Cavitation erosion rig
- High velocity air-sand erosion
- Nanoindenter (MicroMaterials NTX)
- Slurry jet erosion