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On-line erosion tester
The sand-blast type erosion testers have been used for measuring erosive wear of solids surfaces due to particle impact for many years. One major drawback with these types of testers is the inability to measure the effects of erodent impact and the mass change of the target piece without it being removed from the erosive environment.
POSTEC has developed a test method and a new test rig, which can measure the erosion rate on-line, by changing the angle of impact and solids particle velocity. The novel features with the test equipment are;
- ability to determine/control the velocity of solids particles
- possibility of measuring online, without taking the target piece out from the erosive environment
A schematic diagram and a snapshot of the rig are shown in Figures 1 and 2, respectively.
Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the newly developed erosion tester
Figure 2: Prototype erosion test chamber
- solid supply
- gas-solids mixing chamber
- nozzle
- separation wall
- target piece
- motor and wheel arrangement
A rotary wheel consists of two co-rotating disks with a number of slots on its peripheries at specific adjustable angular displacements, filtering out only the particles of the desired velocity range has been used to determine/control the velocity of solid particles, before they hit the target piece (see Figure 3) .
The principle of ultrasonic thickness measurement has been used to determine the erosion rate, while the test is running. Few ultrasonic sensors are installed on the reverse side of the eroding target surface. Figure 4a shows the sensors installed on the test target. The arrangement of the sensors is presented in figure 4b.
Figure 3: Rotary wheel (solid velocity control), a; as it is in test set-up, b; 3D drawing