Turbulent solid-liquid flow through the nozzle of premixed abrasive water jet cutting systems

A computational fluid dynamics analysis has been conducted for the steady s tate, turbulent, solid-liquid how through nozzles used in premixed abrasive water jet cutting systems. The development of a theoretical approach to th e evaluation of turbulent flow and particle dynamic properties in the nozzl es is attractive because of the difficulties associated with direct measure ments in nozzles of high flow speed and small dimension. Axisymmetric simul ations have been performed with the commercial code FIDAP, using the standa rd k-epsilon turbulence model. One-way coupling was considered in the simul ations, which means that the effect of the presence of the dispersed solid phase on the dynamics of the liquid phase was neglected. The velocities and trajectories of solid particles were predicted. The effects of nozzle geom etry on particle dynamic properties were studied. The predictions have been compared with available experimental and theoretical results published by other investigators. This modelling technique will assist in the nozzle des ign of premixed abrasive water jet systems and the prediction of jet cuttin g performance.