RAPID ESTIMATION OF CYLINDER EROSION RATES IN ABRASIVE DUST-LADEN STREAMS

Erosion yield data for particular combinations of target and projectil e materials (via laboratory experiments carried out with a narrow-size distribution over the important range of impact velocities and incide nce angles), together with recently developed rational correlations fo r inertial impaction of suspended particles on a cylinder in high Reyn olds number crossflow are used to provide a tractable framework for pr edicting the erosion rates of, say, heat exchanger tubes immersed in p article-laden streams of combustion products. ''Universal'' results ar e cast in terms of the following accessible parameters: sensitivity of erosion yield to projectile incident velocity and angle, ratio of mea n particle size to the threshold size required for impaction on the cy lindrical target, spread of the mainstream particle size distribution (here log-normal), and the characteristic ''slip'' Reynolds number for the critical size abrasive particle in the mainstream. Applications o f the results are illustrated, and several generalizations are discuss ed.