WEAR

ELSEVIER Wear 181-183 (1995) 5642

Scaling laws for particle velocity in the gas-blast erosion test

A.N.J. Stevenson, I.M. Hutchings
University of Cambridge, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3Q2, UK

Received 29 April 1994; accepted 4 August 1994

Abstract

In erosion testing the wear rate of the specimen is strongly dependent on the particle impact velocity. An understanding
of the factors influencing particle velocity in the test apparatus is therefore essential. In this work, precise measurements of
particle velocity have been made by an optoelectronic method in a simple gas-blast erosion rig with a parallel cylindrical
nozzle. The double-disc method was also used to measure velocities, and results from this technique showed good agreement
with the more accurate measurements. Several commonly used erodent materials were studied, including quartz sand, silicon
carbide and alumina. The particle size was varied over the range from 63 to 710 pm, with particle material densities between
2500 and 7980 kg me3. The nozzle geometry was also varied. Measured particle velocities ranged from 16 to 85 m s-‘.
Computational models for the prediction of particle velocity in gas-blast erosion rigs are briefly reviewed but these exhibit
various inadequacies. It is demonstrated that for cylindrical nozzles an empirical power-law expression can be used to relate
particle velocity to gas pressure, particle size and particle density. It is suggested that this may provide useful scaling laws
for the design of erosion experiments.

Keywords: Erosion; Particle velocity; Gas-blast erosion test

1. Introduction however, to measure particle properties in situ, for

The erosive wear rates of materials are strongly
dependent on the particle impact velocity. This de-
pendence is commonly expressed as a power law, in
which the erosion rate (defined as mass loss per unit
mass of impinging particles) is proportional to the impact
velocity raised to some power n. The value of the
velocity exponent n is generally greater than 2, typically
lying between 2.0 and 3.0 for metallic materials, with
even greater values being reported for ceramics under
some conditions [l-3].
Since the impact velocity has such a strong influence
on the erosion rate it is important that its value is
known accurately. Several methods have been used to
measure the particle velocity. These include the pho-
tographic techniques of multiple fjash photography [4],
the streaking camera method and high-speed framing
photography [5]; laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) [5];
various opto-electronic methods e.g. that of Kosel and
Anand [6]; and the double-disc method of Ruff and
Ives [7]. The last two are described in more detail in
Section 2. Most of these methods are not employed
during an erosion test, but are instead used to calibrate
the apparatus beforehand. Various methods do exist,
example in pneumatic conveying systems [8].
The theoretical problem of particle motion in two-
phase gas-solid flow has been studied by many workers,
either to predict the particle flow patterns (e.g. [9])
or to estimate the particle velocity (e.g. [4,10,11]). In
each case the equations of motion for the particles
must be solved numerically and the complexity of the
system often makes the results unreliable, since the
models usually neglect the important but complicated
interactions between particles and the wall of the
accelerating nozzle. Sheldon’s work [4] on erosive wear
in pipes forms an exception.
The present work was carried out to investigate the
relationship between particle velocity and operating
conditions for a gas-blast erosion apparatus of a common
design, in which the particles are accelerated by an air
flow along a straight parallel cylindrical nozzle. The
gas pressure at the top of the nozzle was varied, and
the particle exit velocity was determined as a function
of this pressure, for particles with a range of sizes and
densities. The results were compared with the predic-
tions of the one-dimensional model of Ninham and
Hutchings [ 111. Experiments were also performed to
determine the influence of nozzle length on particle

Elsevier Science S.A.

SSDI 0043-1648(94)07000-8
 A.N.J. Stevenson, I.M. Hutchings I Wear 181-183
velocity, and to compare the accuracy of the double-
disc and optoelectronic methods of velocity measure-
ment.
2. Experimental method
Experiments were carried out with a gas blast erosion
rig as shown in Fig. 1, in which the erodent particles
were fed at a constant rate into an air stream, and
were accelerated along a parallel-sided cylindrical nozzle
with a bore of 4.90 mm. Further details of the apparatus
have been given by Shipway and Hutchings [12]. The
nozzles were made from seamless drawn type 304
stainless steel tube, and for most experiments were 308
mm long, although some tests were carried out with
other nozzle lengths.
Two different methods were employed to measure
the exit velocities of the erodent particles: the double
disc method of Ruff and Ives [7] and an opto-electronic
method similar to that of Kosel and Anand [6]. These
methods are summarised below.
The double disc apparatus consists of two rotating
discs mounted on the same axis, a small distance apart.
In the design used in this work, the discs were 100
mm in diameter, with a spacing of 20.5 mm, and rotated
at 11220 rev min-‘. The top disc has a radial slit and
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the gas-blast erosion rig.
(1995) 56-62 57
the nozzle is positioned with its exit above this slit.
The bottom disc is coated with a thin layer of paint.
With the two discs stationary, particles passing through
the nozzle make a mark on the lower disc immediately
below the radial slit in the top disc. The two discs are
then rotated at a known constant speed and a second
mark is now made by particles striking the lower disc,
which is displaced by an angle 6 from the first mark.
The erodent velocity is readily calculated from the
known rotation speed of the discs, their separation
along the axis of rotation, and the measured displace-
ment angle 0 [7]. This method is simple and widely
used. It has been shown that the spinning discs create
some disturbance in the air flow pattern, and that this
can introduce a systematic error in the measurements
of particle velocity which is significant for small particles
below about 100 pm in size [5]. The difficulty of defining
the centres of the wear scars leads to an error of
typically about 10%. The method in the form commonly
used gives no quantitative information about the spread
of particle velocities in the stream, although some
qualitative impression can be gained from the widths
of the scars on the lower disc.
The opto-electronic particle timer is shown sche-
matically in Fig. 2. It uses two photodiodes to measure
the flight times of the particles over a distance of 13.3
mm. The emitters are GaAlAs infra-red LEDs (880
nm wavelength) powered from a very stable current
source, so that variations in the beam intensity with
time are insignificant. The beams are circular in section
(1 mm diameter), well collimated and parallel. The
PTFE supportsleeve
andheamcollimator
Fig. 2. Schematic cross-section of opto-electronic velocity sensor.
58 A.N.J. Stevenson, I.M. Hutchings / Wear 181-183 (1995) 56-62

Table 1
Physical properties of erodent materials used

Erodent .material Sizes used Material density Shape

km) (kg m-‘)

Silica sand Various 90-710 2650 Sub-angular

Soda-lime glass ballotini 125-150 2500 Spherical
Alumina 63-75 3950 Angular
Silicon carbide 125-150 3160 Angular
Steel shot 212-250 and 250-300 7980 Spherical
Zirconia sand Various 125-500 5600 Angular

detectors are matched to the emitters and with the
appropriate circuitry can detect fluctuations in intensity
of about 0.5% [12]. The detectors start and stop a
clock running at 1 MHz, and each time interval is
recorded digitally. The minimum particle size that can
be detected is = 70 pm. To protect the diode windows
the nozzle of the erosion apparatus was extended with
a short length of glass tubing with the same internal
diameter, attached by a close fitting external sleeve.
This had the effect of slightly lengthening thl nozzle
but, as will be shown below, this had negligible effect
on the particle velocity. The glass tubes eventually
became internally damaged by particle impacts but were
readily replaced.
In the optoelectronic method, some particles will
interrupt one light beam but not the other, resulting
in signals on one channel which have no partner in
the other and cause erroneous measurements of flight
time. The distribution of flight times recorded therefore
represents the true velocity distribution, combined with
this background noise. It has been shown by computer
modelling experiments, however, that the noise cannot
shift the position of the peak, although it may reduce
its relative magnitude [13]. The lowest background was
achieved at a very low particle feed rate, typically about
30 particles per second. A feed rate of approximately
40-60 particles per second was used in the experiments.
Data were continually collected during each experiment
and displayed on a computer screen as a histogram of
flight times. Each experiment was continued until a
well-defined peak was obtained. This was then converted
to the equivalent velocity distribution, examples of which
are shown in Fig. 3. The average particle velocity was
taken to be the midpoint of the full width at half-
maximum height, with the deviation of the distribution
being given by the half-width.
In these experiments the effects of the following
variables on the exit velocities of the erodent particles
were studied independently: gas driving pressure at the
entrance to the cylindrical nozzle; nozzle length; particle
size, shape and material; and particle density.
Shipway and Hutchings [12] have shown that the
internal roughness of the nozzle can affect the particle
exit velocity and also the shape of the erodent plume
outside the nozzle, mainly because of interactions be-
tween the particles and the nozzle wall. All the nozzles
used in this work were therefore polished internally
to produce an effectively constant internal roughness
of ca. 0.25 pm R,, by accelerating 1 kg of 125-150 pm
silica particles through them at about 50 m s-l. Sub-
sequent use in the experiments caused no significant
change in either the internal roughness or the dimen-
sions of the tubes.
Experiments were performed with sieved samples of
all the erodents listed in Table 1. Standard sieve fractions
were used, and the sieving was carried out to British
Standard BS 1796 using laboratory test sieves con-
forming to BS 410. In each case the densities of the
particle materials were measured gravimetrically by
displacement in water.
In each experiment the air pressure at the top of
the nozzle was measured with a calibrated Bourdon
tube gauge, or for the lowest pressures with a water
manometer, while the lower (exit) end of the nozzle
vented into a chamber maintained at atmospheric pres-
sure. Air at ambient temperature was used as the
accelerating gas.

IO 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Velocity (m/s) 3. Results
Fig. 3. Examples of velocity distributions determined at the nozzle
pressures indicated for 125-150 pm silica sand by the opto-electronic The velocities determined by the double-disc and
method. photodiode methods were compared in a series of
 A.N.J. Stevenson, I.M. Hutchings I Wear 181-183 (1995) 56-62 59

preliminary experiments with 125-150 pm silica particles loo

in the 308 mm long nozzle. Fig. 4 shows typical results
for the variation of particle exit velocity with nozzle 80 .
I
.
pressure, together with the relationship predicted the- . :
.
.

60
oretically by the one-dimensional two-phase flow model ;
:

of Ninham and Hutchings [ll]. The comparison was :

I 154mm -
40 r ?? ’
repeated with 425-500 pm and 600-710 pm silica sand, . ?? . 308mm -
- I .
and also with glass ballotini and silicon carbide grit, : . 650mm -
20
both 125 to 150 pm in size. In all cases there was . 1000mm -
good agreement between the results from the two
OC
experimental methods, the velocities being within 5% 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
over the range from 17 to 85 m s-l, although there Pressure (bar)
was some tendency for the double-disc method to yield
Fig. 5. The effect of nozzle length on particle velocity for LX-150
higher velocities than the opto-electronic method. This pm silica sand particles.
small systematic error, no greater than 3%, may be
because the faster particles within a distribution lead
to a greater contribution to the wear scar than the
slower particles. All further measurements described
below were carried out with the optoelectronic method,
with the sole exception of the 63-75 pm alumina particles
whose velocities were recorded by the double-disc
$
N-

s
7500

6000 I
c
.. .
.

.
.

.
90-106nm
125-150 pm
j

I
% 4500 . .
??
method. Z .
9 . ’ .
To study the effect of nozzle length, four different p 3000
:.
.
.tO
lengths were used: 154 mm, 308 mm (i.e. the standard Ie to
1500 :
nozzle length), 650 mm and 1000 mm. As Fig. 5 shows, . t :
nozzle length had little effect on the exit velocity for
the 125-150 pm silica sand particles, although the 308 O 0.I 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
(al Pressure (bar)
mm nozzle gave significantly higher velocities than the
shorter or longer nozzles, for the same pressure drop. 3500 t”“,““,““,““,““,““~
Figs. 4 and 5 demonstrate that the particle velocity 125-150 pm
.
increased monotonically with pressure. It was found in . . 150-180 nm
each case that a logarithmic plot of velocity against ?? ‘
. 212-250 nm
pressure was effectively linear. Regression analysis using
the method of least squares gave a gradient of 0.5,
suggesting that the particle velocity v varies with the
square root of the driving pressure P, i.e.

vaPln (1)
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
(b) Pressure (bar)

Fig. 6. Particle velocity squared (v*) as a function of the driving

pressure for a range of sizes of (a) silica sand and (b) zirconia sand.
80
The nozzle used was 308 mm long with a bore of 4.90 nun.

Results obtained with other sizes of silica particles

(density 2650 kg m-3), and also with zirconia particles
(density 5600 kg m-‘) are shown in Fig. 6, plotted as
(velocity)’ versus pressure. In all cases the relationship
is linear, confirming that the dependence is essentially
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
as described by Eq. (1).
Pressure (bar) The good agreement between these results and Eq.
(1) suggested that there might also be a power-law
Fig. 4. Comparison between the double-disc and opto-electronic
methods of velocimetry, for 125-150 pm silica sand particles. The
dependence on particle size d. Logarithmic plots re-
solid line shows the predictions of the model of Ninham and Hutchings vealed that for particles of both silica and zirconia, the
[ill. results fitted the relationship
60 A.N.J. Stevenson, I.M. Hutchings / Wear 181483 (1995) 56-62

P
$a -
do.57 (2)
as shown by Fig. 7 in which the data from Fig. 6 have
been replotted.
The pressure dependence of velocity for the glass
ballotini, alumina particles, silicon carbide particles and
steel shot, with the wide range of densities listed in
Table 1, was also found to obey relationship (1). For
all the particles studied, the influence of particle density
p was established, and the data found to fit the re- 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
lationship: P/(do 57 p ’O8 )

P
v2a ____ (3)
d".57d.08 125 I50 pm s~hcon carbIde
. 125-150 pm sdica sand
as shown in Fig. 8. 1 2 12-250 pm steel shot
. 212-250 pm zirconia
In order to examine the wider applicability of this
. i 50-180 pm zircon1a
scaling law, some experiments were also performed 3 425-500 pm zirconia
with 125 to 150 pm silica particles and a nozzle with W-7 10 urn sihca sand
dimensions conforming to ASTM Standard G76, 1.58 . 250-300 urn silica sand

mm internal diameter and 50 mm long. Measurements Fig. 8. Particle velocity squared (u*) plotted against P/(d”.57p’.MJ)for
made by Buijs [14] with a nozzle with 1.4 mm internal particles of the materials and sizes indicated. A nozzle 308 mm long
with a bore of 4.90 mm was used throughout.
diameter and 16 mm long were also analysed, although
these data may not be directly comparable since the
particles and air stream were fed to the nozzle through 4m ~““,““,““,““,““,““j

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

Pressure (bar)

Fig. 9. Particle velocity squared (21’) for 125-150 @m silica particles

as a function of air pressure for a nozzle conforming to standard
ASTM G76.

a 1.5 m long, 5 mm diameter tube, and the pressure

was measured at the upstream end of this tube.
For the ASTM nozzle, relationship (1) was obeyed
as shown in Fig. 9; since neither particle size nor density
was varied the dependence on these other variables
could not be established. The results from Buijs [14],
who measured velocities by the double disc method,
showed the same power law dependence on air pressure
as in relationship (l), but a slightly weaker dependence
0 ~,,,,I,,,,~,~,,I,,“I,,,,
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 on particle size and density; the best fit was obtained
(b)
P/do s7 for the relationship:
Fig. 7. Particle velocity squared (v*) plotted against I’/do.57 for particles
with the sizes indicated: (a) silica sand and (b) zirconia sand (for
P
v2a ___ (4)
symbols see Fig. 6). d0.53p0.81
 A.N.J. Stevenson,
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
P/(8.53 PO.81
)
. 9 pm alumina
. 17 pm alumina
. 29 urn alumina
I 53 pm alumina
n 9.5 urn alumina
0
125 pm iron
0 29 pm silicon carbide
6 37 Mmglass beads
Fig. 10. Particle exit velocity squared (vz) plotted against
for data from the experiments of Buijs [14].
as shown by Fig. 10. The scatter in these experimental
data was significantly greater than for the data obtained
in the present work, perhaps because of the method
of velocity measurement used; it is noteworthy that the
particles used by Buijs were rather smaller, with a size
range from 9 to 125 pm.
4. Discussion
The scaling laws for particle velocity in the gas-blast
erosion apparatus in terms of nozzle pressure, particle
size and particle density expressed by the power-law
relationship (3) are valuable, as they readily allow
particle velocities to be estimated under new test con-
ditions, although it would clearly be dangerous to
extrapolate outside the range for which the function
was derived. Scaling laws also permit the effect of
distributions of particle size on erosion rate to be
predicted [15]. Several previous investigators have pub-
lished numerical solutions for the acceleration of par-
ticles in a gas stream [4,10,11,16,17], but none has
provided such a simple approximation to the results
in functional form, although Marshall et al. [15] showed
that in a gas-blast rig with a nozzle 9.5 mm in diameter
and 3 m long, the particle velocity for a constant gas
pressure varied with particle size raised to a power
between -0.13 and - 0.32, for particles between 10
and 1000 pm in size. For comparison, the relevant
exponent determined in the present work was -0.28.
Al-Hassani [18], in the context of shot peening with
a gas-blast nozzle, has suggested that the particle velocity
should increase with the square root of the gas pressure,
the same dependence as that observed here.
I.M. Hutchings I Wear 181-183 (1995) 56-62 61
As shown in Fig. 4, the computational model [ll]
employed for comparison with the observations con-
sistently overestimates the actual particle velocity. There
are several possible reasons for this, since the model
incorporates only approximate treatments for the vari-
ation of drag coefficient with particle Reynolds number
and for the skin friction between the gas flow and the
nozzle wall. Probably the most serious defect of this
and most other simple models, however, lies in the
assumption of one-dimensional particle motion. Col-
0.7 lisions between the particles and the nozzle wall are
ignored, although they undoubtedly occur. Recent work
[12] has shown this to be a significant factor which
affects both the final particle velocity and the divergence
of the particle stream as it leaves the nozzle. Both will
be important in erosion experiments.
The model of Ninham and Hutchings [ll] is more
accurate in predicting gas velocity than particle velocity,
and results from that theory were used to calculate
gas velocities for the present series of experiments. To
P/(,“.53#.*‘) a close approximation, the gas velocity was proportional
to the nozzle pressure squared, which suggested that
the ratio of particle velocity ZI to gas velocity U would
be independent of gas pressure for particles of fixed
size and density. This conjecture is supported by Fig.
11, in which the data from Fig. 8 have been replotted
in terms of the velocity ratio v/U. No systematicvariation
of v/U with pressure is seen.
The dependence of particle to gas velocity ratio on
nozzle length was also examined, by replotting the data
from Fig. 5 in terms of the ratio v/U. Once again, the
velocity ratio was found to be independent of gas
pressure, and v/l/increased continuously with increasing
nozzle length (Fig. 12). The variation in particle velocity
with nozzle length shown in Fig. 5 can therefore be
understood as arising from the combination of two
factors: an underlying variation of gas velocity U with
nozzle length, and the steady increase in the ratio vl
U with nozzle length.
0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2
I/@ 285p0 54)
Fig. 11. Particle-gas velocity ratio (u/CT) for the data plotted in
Fig. 8.
62 A.N.J. Stevenson, I.M. Hutch@
0.6 c, , , , r r , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,,
c
. 0.10bar
. 0.15 bar
. 0.20 bar
. 0.25 bar
0.30 bar
81 0.35 bar
c 0.40 bar
200 400 600 800 1000
Nozzle Length (mm)
Fig. 12. Particle-gas velocity ratio (v/u) as a function
length, for the data plottted in Fig. 5.
5. Conclusions
Accurate measurements of particle velocity in a gas
blast erosion apparatus with a parallel cylindrical nozzle
have revealed simple empirical scaling laws, valid over
a wide range of conditions, for velocity v as a function
of particle size d, particle density p and gas pressure
P. These can be expressed in power-law terms:
P
v2a ___
d”.57d~os
More limited studies carried out with a nozzle of
the dimensions recommended in standard practice
ASTM G76 suggest that the dependence of velocity
on pressure for this geometry follows the same functional
relationship, and closely similar behaviour has also been
noted with other parallel cylindrical nozzles. These
scaling laws may be valuable in the design of experiments
and in the analysis of erosion data.
Theoretical prediction of particle velocity is com-
plicated by the significant influence of collisions between
particles and the nozzle wall, but this work suggests
that the ratio between the particle velocity and the gas
velocity in the nozzle is effectively independent of the
pressure drop along the nozzle, an observation which
may prove useful in further theoretical studies of the
problem.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by SERC and British Steel
via a CASE studentship. The authors are grateful to
Martin Buijs for provision of his velocity measurements.
I Wear 181-183 (1995) 56-42
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