Engineering Failure Analysis 153 (2023) 107565

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Engineering Failure Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Erosion impact on mild steel elbow pipeline for different

orientations under liquid-gas-sand annular flow
Rehan Khan a, A-H.I. Mourad b, c, d, *, A.H. Seikh e, Jana Petru f, Hamdan H.Ya g
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology,
Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
b
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, P.O. Box. 15551, United
Arab Emirates
c
National Water and Energy Center, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, P.O. Box. 15551, United Arab Emirates
d
On Leave from Mechanical Design Department, Faculty of Engineering, El Mataria, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt
e
Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia
f
Department of Machining, Assembly and Engineering Metrology, Mechanical Engineering Faculty, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17.
listopadu 2172/15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic
g
Mechanical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this paper, the quantitative results of erosion of a horizontal-vertical (H-V) downward long
Erosion radius 90◦ elbow and horizontal-horizontal (H-H) elbow for abrasive annular flow conditions is
Elbow evaluated using experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics. Experimental results indicate
Carbon steel
that the critical erosion eventuates when the angle reaches approximately 45◦ , which is perceived
Surface morphology
CFD simulation
in both H-V and H-H orientation. The excessive pitting and microcutting are the main causes of
Annular flow erosive wear for both oriented elbows after the abrasive particle collision. Meanwhile, the 1018
Excessive pitting steel H-H exhibited the lowest thickness loss, surface roughness, hardness, and mass loss in
comparison with H-V oriented elbow. The corresponding erosion rate of the H-V elbow was
comparatively 21% higher than 90◦ H-H elbows for identical annular flow conditions.

1. Introduction

Pipeline erosion is a material removal due to the impact of erodent transported in the pipeline with carrier fluids [1,2]. All types of
flow components including pipelines, elbows, flow control valves, and restrainers, will be damaged by erosive wear in multiphase flow
conditions [3–6]. Erosion-induced damage in the elbow configurations is more significant than that at the straight pipe due to the
redirected flow pattern of the fluid at a curvature and the transportation of abrasive particles [7]. Erosive wear effectuates wall
thinning, and leakage outflow, and significantly affects the safety of the production process [8–11]. Many researchers have performed
erosion prediction studies using experimental and numerical simulations in multiphase flow conditions [12–14]. The measurement of
erosive wear is mainly through thickness loss, which uses intrusive and non-intrusive measurement techniques. The annular flow ­
pattern commonly occurs for flow configuration with high superficial gas velocity and low liquid superficial velocity. As gas velocities
reduce, the flow pattern changes to slug flow.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: mrehan.khan@ceme.nust.edu.pk (R. Khan), ahmourad@uaeu.ac.ae (A.-H.I. Mourad), aseikh@ksu.edu.sa (A.H. Seikh), jana.
petru@vsb.cz (J. Petru), hamdan.ya@utp.edu.my (H. H.Ya).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2023.107565
Received 21 June 2023; Received in revised form 25 July 2023; Accepted 21 August 2023
Available online 23 August 2023
1350-6307/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
R. Khan et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 153 (2023) 107565

Vieira et al. [15] experimentally evaluated the 90◦ elbow erosion for vertical and horizontal annular flow conditions using intrusive
methods. The highest erosion is located at the 45◦ position of the outer curvature of 90◦ elbow under annular flow. Zhao et al. [16]
developed a numerical model for multiphase flow that combines the fluid model and the disperse phase model to predict erosive wear
in vertical-horizontal (V-H) annular flow and the results were consistent with the experiments. Chen et al. [17] evaluated erosion
under multiphase flow conditions by using numerical simulation of 90◦ elbows erosion in horizontal-vertical-upward and found that
the under multiphase flow erosion is 7.5 times more in comparison to single phase flow. Kang et al. [18] developed a probabilistic
erosion model to predict wear for abrasive vertical-horizontal (V-H) annular flow conditions by considering the effect of erodent
secondary impaction. Peng et al. [19] studied the relationship between the dispersed phase and continuous phase distribution and
erosion profile employing numerical methods and experimental procedures to understand the abrasive horizontal-horizontal (H-H)
annular flow erosion mechanism for pipe geometry. The most eroded region identified was between the axial angle of 22.5◦ and 45◦ of
the elbow. Kesana et al. [20] studied the effects of erodent size and fluid viscosity on horizontal annular multiphase flow erosion for
different particle sizes of sand. The electrical resistance (ER) probes were used to quantify the erosion rate this technique may disturb
the flow regime and influence hydrodynamic properties because of protrusion. Mclaury et al. [21] developed a semi-mechanistic
model to predict erosion in three phase annular flow. They concluded from experimental findings that pipe orientation signifi­
cantly influences erosive wear for annular flow in bend pipes.
Parsi et al. [22] investigated erosion due to solid particles in a 90◦ bend pipe under vertical-upward abrasive churn flow. They
concluded that the elbow experienced serious erosion on the sides of the bend. Liu et al. [23] decouple a relationship for erosive
vertical annular flow that considered the effects of carrier fluid viscosity. In comparison with other correlations, the mean deviation of
predictions result is 25.97% with the newly developed model. Liu et al. [24] studied the relationship between the velocity of carrier
fluid and erosion using a 90◦ elbow made up of carbon steel in a single-phase flow for horizontal-horizontal orientation.
A review of the published research specifies that many numerical and experimental investigations have been conducted on erosive
wear of elbow pipes in sand-water-air annular flow. At present, the annular flow erosion of elbow pipe is mainly limited to CFD and
using non-intrusive erosion measurement methods. For the CFD erosion evaluation, a lot of research conducted so far is based on
erosion in the pipe in annular flow. However, limited studies have focused on examining the wear mechanism associated with H-V
downward and H-H oriented elbow in the literature on annular flow conditions. In summary, limited studies are available that provide
information on the effect of elbow orientation and erosion due to micron particles in annular (air-water-sand) for 90◦ elbow pipe. The
test methods employed in literature to evaluate erosion due to abrasive annular flow do not use a representative 90◦ elbow for testing.
However, the flat sample was mounted inside the specially designed pipe to hold samples and the accuracy of such type of test is
questionable because the mass transfer of flat specimen is different from curved specimens. The primary objective of this work is to
study the influence of 90◦ elbow orientation on erosive wear in annular flow due to micron particles. The main contributions of this
paper are: 1) Flow loop test is developed to investigate the erosion of a representative 90◦ elbow in horizontal and vertical orientation.
2) To develop an understanding of the erosion process of the 90◦ elbow in annular flow, which is visualized and analyzed experi­
mentally and numerically by employing qualitative and quantitative techniques.
In this study, the locally fabricated experimental setup is employed to quantitatively investigate the erosive performance of 1018
carbon steel 90◦ bend pipe in air-sand-water annular flow. The effect of bend pipe orientation on erosion-corrosion performance is
studied numerically and experimentally, and the worn surface morphology is observed by microscopic imaging and surface roughness
analysis. To understand the erosion-corrosion mechanism under annular flow conditions the comparison is made for the mass loss
result and hardness level of the elbow pipe section after wear.

Fig. 1. Silica sand particles.

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2. Material and methods

In the present study, 1018 carbon steel elbow pipes were used for test sample preparation. The chemical composition of the
supplied mild steel 90◦ elbow is listed in our previous study [25]. To assess the erosion mechanism of 1018 CS 90◦ elbows, several
samples of dimensions 10 × 10 mm were cut by Wire electro-discharge machining (WEDM) technique for microscopic imaging.
Annular flow wear tests of the 1018 CS samples were performed using a locally fabricated flow loop setup under water–sand-air flow
conditions. In this study, a 150 ± 5 µm diameter silica particle was used as an erodent as shown in Fig. 1. The average sand size of 150
± 5 µm was measured using a laser diffraction particle size analyzer. The elbow specimen radius of curvature was kept at 1.5D with an
internal diameter of 50.8 mm as shown in Fig. 2. This study is limited to annular flow and as shown in Fig. 3 upstream of the elbow test
section transparent pipe is added to observe flow patterns inside the pipe.
Before carrying out the erosion test, samples were first cut into section-I and section II and grounded and polished to achieve a low
surface roughness level as shown in Fig. 2. The horizontal-horizontal and horizontal-vertical-downward oriented elbow (Fig. 3b and
3c) were used in this study and mounted in locally fabricated flow loops at locations 6 and 7 as shown in Fig. 3a. The 2% wt con­
centration of abrasive particles employed for this study with water and air carrier fluids. This was done to investigate the influence of
bend orientation on wear behavior as this is the focus of this study. Table 1 summarizes the flow parameter selected for this study. The
parameters of water quality such as pH, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen were measured by using a portable multi-meter. The pH
value of water used as a continuous phase is 7.5. The values of dissolved oxygen and conductivity measured for water are 7 mg/L and
230 µS/cm respectively.
The surface roughness of the samples was acquired by employing a Mitutoyo SURFTEST SJ-210 portable roughness tester. In this
study, the arithmetic mean of the roughness profile of a target surface (Ra) and peak-to-valley average sampling lengths of the target
surface (Rz) values were quantified to investigate the extent of erosion at different local points. The wall thickness loss was quantified
at various locations upstream to downstream by a portable ultrasonic thickness gauge (MT660 Mitech) to cover the entry, middle, and
exit locations of the top and bottom sections of the elbow configuration. To measure local thickness at different locations grid ul­
trasonic thickness measurement technique was employed to ensure thickness loss was obtained at the same location before and after
the test. The hardness of the samples was evaluated on the Vickers scale using a microhardness tester (Leco LM 247AT). Details about
the experimental setup and method were discussed in detail in our previous work [3,26].

2.1. Numerical Simulation

Multiphase flow CFD-DPM simulations are performed on ANSYS for annular flow conditions. CFD-DPM simulation results are used
to validate experimental data obtained for thickness loss and investigate dispersed particle erosion for elbow pipes with different
orientations. However, conducting CFD-DPM for annular flow is highly computationally expensive. Multiphase simulations being
presented in this paper are performed on a high-performance computation facility. In this study, Discrete Phase Model (DPM) is used to
simulate the dispersed phase of the sand-air–water flow erosion process. The Oka model [27,28] is employed to predict erosive wear
and this model is widely used for elbow pipe erosion prediction because of better accuracy. The simulation algorithm chosen for the
CFD-DPM was a SIMPLE algorithm with the convergence criteria of 1x 10-4 and transient simulations were carried out for the 30 s. The
mesh independence study and validation were conducted in our previous study [26]. The geometry of the 90◦ elbow and computa­
tional mesh which corresponds to the experimental specimen is shown in Fig. 4. The air–water multiphase flow is injected through the

Fig. 2. Elbow test specimen.

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Fig. 3. (a) Main components of the experimental setup with H-V and H-H elbow test section. (b) H-H orientation (c) H-V orientation.

Table 1
Flow parameters for experimental investigation.
Sr No Particle diameter (microns) Vsg (m/s) Vsl (m/s) Flow Orientation
Time (hrs)

1 150 ± 5 µm 47 0.3 10 H-V

2 150 ± 5 µm 47 0.3 10 H-H

upstream pipe with an annular pattern. The air enters through the center core of the upstream pipe, and the water is injected into the
pipe in the pattern of a ring. Since Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) can simulate the anisotropy effects and complex flow, and predict the
behavior of the particle which is fluid flow-dependent with reasonable accuracy [29]. Therefore, the RSM was selected to solve the

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Fig. 4. Specimen location (a) Bottom (b) Top (c) Computation Mesh of 90◦ Elbow pipe.

Fig. 5. Thickness loss of H-V and H-H oriented 90◦ elbows: (a) Section-I (b) Section-II.

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turbulent flow for all numerical simulations and wall function as a scalable wall function because of lower y+ values compared to the
standard wall function. To simulate sand rebound phenomena, a particle rebound recovery model developed by Grant et al. [30] is
used to describe the particle–wall interaction through normal coefficients and tangential coefficients. The volume of Fluid (VOF)
multiphase model is selected to simulate the multiphase interface of gas–liquid two-phase flow. In this model, the Eulerian-Eulerian
model and VOF model are used in combination to simulate multiphase flow where the difference between liquid phase and gas phase
velocity is large. In this study, the thickness 100 µm was set for first cell near the wall, which is smaller compare to the sand size (150
µm).

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Ultrasonic thickness measurements

Before and after each test run, thickness at locations (1–18) was quantified by employing the ultrasonic thickness (UT) tester five
times at each location, this technique for erosion rate quantification is employed in several previous studies [31–33]. The thickness
loss, as shown in Fig. 5 plotted at different locations. Surprisingly, the transition from horizontal-horizontal orientation to horizontal-
vertical-downward orientation significantly influences the maximum erosion magnitude. Moreover, changing elbow orientation will
not change the erosion pattern. In horizontal-vertical-downward orientation, erosion at all the locations is high compared to that
quantified in horizontal-horizontal orientation for annular flow operating conditions. Fig. 5 shows the erosion results for experiments
for both orientations under annular flow. It can be perceived that the maximum erosion level is higher for horizontal-vertical
orientation than horizontal-horizontal orientation with 1.2 times high thickness loss in comparison with the horizontal-horizontal
orientation at location 4. Similarly, the sand particles create 1.15 times higher thickness loss at location 13.
This can be attributed to the fact that for both orientations, the erodent may be suspended in the carrier fluid to impact the cur­
vature with higher impact velocity due to the gravitation effect at both section-I and section II. This suggests that regardless of elbow
orientation, the erosion will be more localized at section-II at 45◦ in the elbow pipe and the highest wear rate was 83 mm/year in H-V
and 74 mm/year in H-H elbow. In summary, the erosion rate is dependent on the elbow orientation. However, in this research, it was
noticed that for both orientations, the location of high erosive wear was approximately 45◦ (locations 4 and 13) and adjacent to the
outlet at 90◦ (locations 7 and 16) on both sections of the elbow, the findings of this analysis part are consistent with the findings of
Vieira et al. [15].

3.2. Roughness assessment and microscopic analysis

Mitutoyo SURFTEST SJ-210 portable roughness tester (Fig. 6d) was used to evaluate surface roughness at different locations. The
cutting location of 10 mm × 10 mm specimens was selected in such a way that the erosive behavior of 1018 CS was captured as the flow
approached downstream as shown in Fig. 6a and 6b. In total three roughness measurements were conducted along the cut specimen
surface.
Fig. 7 displays the surface roughness (Ra) value at different locations of 90◦ elbow. Surface roughness (Ra) enhances from 0.56 µm
to 27.321 µm at 45◦ in section-I of the H-V oriented bend. Roughness level (Ra) increases from 0.56 µm to 24.611 µm at 45◦ in section-I
with the change of elbow pipe from H-V-downward to H-H. For section-II, surface roughness (Ra) increases from 0.56 µm to 24.12 µm
at 45◦ in the H-V oriented bend and 0.56 µm to 21.27 µm at 45◦ in H-H oriented bend under annular flow. The mean peak-to-valley

Fig. 6. (a,b) Samples location after the test (c) 10 mm × 10 mm specimens (d) portable roughness tester.

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Fig. 7. Ra value after the test in annular flow: (a) Section-I; (b) Section-II.

height (Rz) is also an important parameter for the understanding of wear phenomena. In Fig. 8, the roughness parameter (Rz) of the
samples for section-I and section-II of the geometry varied significantly at different locations. The highest Rz value was identified at 45◦
and 90◦ locations at section-I and section-II of the H-V and H-H elbows. Hence, it was concluded that maximum material removal
occurs at 45◦ in elbow pipe, as mentioned in the literature [19].
It was observed that the roughness level increases as the flow approaches downstream locations at 45◦ in annular flow with sand. In
comparison, the roughness level was moderate at the axial location of 90◦ ; however, it was minimum at the entry of the elbow pipe. It
was reported in our previous research that erosive wear increases the roughness level of steel [25]. Both evaluated parameters (Ra and
Rz) of 1018CS are lower for horizontal-horizontal oriented elbow than those evaluated for horizontal-vertical orientation. The ir­
regularities profile of locations with maximum roughness level was also analyzed using a confocal microscope to have a better un­
derstanding of a worn surface at a 45◦ location. The irregularities of the surface are visualized in Figs. 9 and 10.
The confocal and microscopic images of the worn specimen under annular flow conditions of section-I and section-II with
maximum Ra and Rz values after erosion are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Continuous impaction of abrasive particles locally wears the
surface by the pitting, microcutting, and microplouging inside the elbow during the erosion that is visible after the impaction. The
mechanism of microploughing leads to the formation of side edges due to the displacement of material. In the microcutting the target
surface material is removed and microploughing is related to moderate wear and microcutting mechanism is related to severe wear
[34].
In section-I of the 90◦ elbow, more degradation was observed at 4H-V as compared to 4H-H, and this was due to gravitational effects
that results in serious wear of materials. Additionally, corrosion attack and pitting were also seen at 45◦ due to the severe plastic
deformation because of redirected carrier fluid with abrasive particles impacting the outer curvature at 45◦ for both H-H and H-V
orientated elbow. Pitting and microcutting are the key erosive mechanisms in both section-I and section-II. In section-I, more pitting
phenomena with corrosion were identified which suggests high-velocity particle impaction, the microploughing and microcutting
mechanism were observed in micrographs as shown in Fig. 10. After the test, the 4H-H have small perforation sites on the target surface
as shown in Fig. 11, but in 4H-V multiple particles, the impact created large perforation sites.
In 90◦ elbow, more scratching was detected in 7H-V and pitting corrosion was visible in 7H-H as shown in Fig. 11. In comparison,
the 13H-V and 13H-H micrographs revealed that particle impaction results in microcutting with small pits. Pits were developed at the
steel samples due to the breakage of the passive film by the impact of sand particles transported in multiphase flow as shown in Fig. 11.
These erosion-corrosion pits are considered metastable and grow to large perforation sites due to the continuous impaction of abrasive
particles with annular flow. These pits are often surrounded with corrosion products, similar findings were reported in the literature

Fig. 8. Rz value after the test in annular flow: (a) Section-I; (b) Section-II;

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Fig. 9. The worn surface of a 90◦ H-V elbow 1018 CS elbow at location 4 after the test.

Fig. 10. The worn surface of a 90◦ H-H elbow 1018 CS elbow at location 4 after the test.

[35].
A comparison of the micrographs of different locations reveals that erosion-corrosion pits were developed on the surface of H-V and
H-H elbow in location 4; the number of erosion-corrosion pits is more in the H-V surface, while less number of pits formed in the H-H

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Fig. 11. The microscopic images of a carbon steel 90◦ H-H and H-V elbow at a different location after the test.

surface. The localized pit formed on location 4 in H-V is deeper and has a hemispherical shape. At the same time, the pits on location 4
in H-H were developed far away from each other in a virtually circular shape, compared with that of the H-V. It is also observed
removal of the work hardened layer and the removal of embedded sand increased plastic deformation. The main reason for the
development of erosion-corrosion pits on the surface may be because of the removal of the protective film and breakage of the
cementite network that accelerates erosion-corrosion. This phenomenon of erosion-corrosion has been observed in the experiments of
Islam et al. [36]. The annular flow, map, and distribution of erodent in gas core and water film can be represented by Fig. 12. When
sand particles collide with the elbow pipe wall, the impaction energy weakens due to the cushion effect, a significant amount of impact
energy is lost before the impact of particles due to the water film. In the annular flow, the sand transported through the water is small,
and the serious erosion is due to the sand transported in the air core which is responsible for serious erosion in the pipeline [19].

Fig. 12. Flow map annular flow with sand particles.

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Moreover, the pits of the 45◦ angle grew individually larger in section-I, and section-II showed pitting sites that grew in smaller size
pits as identified in Fig. 11. The extent of erosive wear at 45◦ in H-V orientation was more than those at 45◦ in H-H orientation in
identical operating conditions. In the H-H, the erosion was minimum, because the flow was not redirected abruptly in comparison with
the H-V elbow. At the H-H elbow, the flow change direction in a smooth pattern, and particle impaction occurs less frequently as
compared to the H-V elbow. Fig. 13 shows the EDS elemental mapping of the corrosion product on the elbow inner surface. As the
water–air-sand is transported through the elbow section, the oxidation–reduction reactions are initiated in the elbow wall and the
corrosion product formed is Fe2O3, dissolved oxygen (DO) in carrier fluid contributes to pits generation which has also been identified
in previous studies [37,38]. The combination of erosion and corrosion resulted in a higher erosion-corrosion rate in carbon steel during
multiphase annular flow. In addition, the impact of sand particles because of abrupt changes in flow direction leads to high turbulence
and momentum transfer at the surface increasing the material removal rate. This finding is consistent with the study of Elemuren et al.
[39].
The corrosion products on the inner surface were analyzed by EDS mapping, as shown in Fig. 13. The corrosion products are loose
in shape and develop in the form of layers, and are continuously distributed. By observing the corrosion product EDS map, the
corrosion type may be oxygen corrosion. During oxygen corrosion, oxygen reacts with and removes the hydrogen ion film from the
cathode surface, allowing the corrosion to attack the surface. Fe2O3 may come from oxygen corrosion caused by exposure to air.

3.3. Mass loss and hardness measurements

Fig. 14 shows the mass loss for H-V and H-H elbow pipes for section-I and section- II under abrasive annular flow. For both ori­
entations, the maximum mass loss occurred in section-I in the H-V elbow. In the H-V elbow, the corresponding mass loss in section-I
was 21% high compared to the H-H. Fig. 14 shows that section-I of the 90◦ elbow measured the highest mass loss regardless of the
orientation. It can be deduced that in annular flow, the bottom of the elbow pipe induced serious wear due to the multiple erodent
impactions as compared to the top portion. In the H-V 90◦ elbow section-II approximately 1.07 times more mass loss was evaluated
compared to the H-H elbow for annular flow conditions. The maximum mass loss in the H-V elbow may be of the gravity and high air
velocity make the water move from section-II to section-I of the elbow and cause maximum erosion.
Fig. 15 presents the measurements of hardness at the locations with maximum surface roughness values of the H-V and H-H elbows.
It was observed that the maximum hardness level in both H-V and H-H elbows was observed at 45◦ . The continuous particles impaction
results in strain hardening of the worn samples and the hardness increased to 206 in the H-V 90◦ elbow at 45◦ and to 190 in the H-H 90◦
elbow at 45◦ . The result was in agreement with the investigation in a previous study [3]. The wear traces analysis discussed in the
previous section shows that particle hardness influences the wear occurring and results in the microcutting wear mechanism of steels
characterized by the long groves due to the impact of hard erodents such as sand. In addition, the induced erosion rate of elbow pipe
depends on hardness, impact kinetic energy, and sharpness factor of sand particles [40]. Because the hardness of the sand particles is
higher than that of carbon steel and when the hard particles impact the surface of the elbow pipe they will cause higher deformation
and form craters in the surface.

3.4. CFD for annular flow conditions

For investigating the elbow pipe orientation effect on the wear of mild steel in abrasive three-phase annular flow, the CFD-DPM was
performed for the horizontal-horizontal and horizontal vertical-downward elbow. Fig. 16 shows that in annular flow with sand
particles, the pipe orientation has a major influence on the wear rate. Furthermore, since the peak wear rate for both oriented elbows
occurs at the outer curvature of the elbow, changing the orientation from H-H to H-V enhances the centrifugal force effect; as a result,
the H-V-oriented elbow wall experiences a high erosion rate. It is also noteworthy that for H-H oriented elbow, the maximum erosion
rates occur between 54◦ to 75◦ , while for the H-V downward case, the maximum erosion zone is located between 45◦ to 80◦ . Another
important observation in this Fig. 16 is that the H-H oriented pipe due to the gravitational effect section-I has significant erosion
damage.
This study yielded two conclusions on the increase in particle kinetic energy that results in severe erosion. The high pressure
produced by the high-velocity collision of particles is connected to the slowness of the impacting fluid with erodent, and first, the
majority of the kinetic energy increased in the H-V elbow instance due to the high impact velocity of 51 m/s exhibited in CFD-DPM as
shown in Fig. 16c and 16d. This excessive pressure may cause the elbow curvature to wear significantly. The high-velocity rebound
following contact with the surface, collision with the surface, and gravitational force in an H-V orientation can all lead to a high rate of
erosion.
On the other hand, in H-V downward, the maximum erosion is distributed symmetrically in section-I and section-II. For H-H, the
maximum erosion is 63.7 mm/year, while the maximum erosion for H-V is 78.9 mm/year. The H-V elbow erosion is higher due to the
maximum impaction of particles with high velocity at different locations. In comparison H-V as shown in Fig. 16c and 16d, the particle
impact with less velocity in H-H elbow configuration. It can be observed, experiments and numerical simulation results are consistent,
specifically for the identification of the maximum impaction region. For quantitative results, CFD and experiment results deviate by an
error of about 20%. The reason for deviation in CFD data might be due to particle–particle interaction and particle angularity effects
were not considered in the numerical simulation.

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Fig. 13. EDS elemental mapping of corrosion product.

4. Conclusions and preventive actions

In summary, the 90◦ mild steel elbow erosion-corrosion behavior was scrutinized in abrasive annular flow conditions for H-V and
H-H orientation. Moreover, a thickness loss measurement and surface roughness evaluation were conducted to identify the maximum
erosion location. Finally, microhardness analysis and mass loss analysis, and numerical simulations were performed to study sand
erosion of H-V and H-H elbow pipes. The major conclusions were inferred as follows:

1. In annular flow, the erosion enhances seriously with a change in orientation angle from H-V to H-H. The corresponding mass loss of
the H-V elbow was comparatively 21% high for identical annular flow conditions. In section-I, the 90◦ H-V elbows, the localized
erosion increase due to abrupt flow direction, and the maximum erosion rate (83 mm/year) are found at 45◦ position in annular
flow.
2. The surface roughness (Ra and Rz) was affected by bend pipe orientation. The roughness level and hardness measurement revealed
that the roughness and hardness both increased in the H-V oriented elbow; comparatively, H-H oriented elbow obtained low surface
roughness and hardness for abrasive annular flow conditions.
3. The worn surface microscopic analysis identified that the plastic deformation due to pitting and cutting enacts a primary role in the
wear of the elbow pipes. Although the erosion rate of both H-V and H-H increase at 45◦ but their mechanisms are different. It is
mainly the pitting, and scratching, that increase the roughness level of the surface and influenced the wear rate.
4. CFD-DPM predicts the maximum erosion rates occur between 54◦ to 75◦ , while for the H-V downward case, the maximum erosion
zone is located between 45◦ to 80◦ . The experiments and numerical simulation agree very well, especially for the identification of
the maximum impaction region.

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Fig. 14. Mass loss in section-I and section-II of elbow pipe after the test:

Fig. 15. Microhardness of samples at maximum impaction location before and after the erosion test.

5. Based on the evaluation of results the H-V oriented elbows can be replaced with an H-H oriented elbow to reduce erosion rate,
especially for annular flow conditions. Since many industrial processes require sand transportation through piping systems, the H-H
elbow appears to be an effective alternative.

In the current work, the experimental and numerical analysis is incorporated to assess erosion in annular flow conditions for elbow
configurations. In the future study, the method and procedures established may be applied to other flow conditions to understand
erosion phenomena. Moreover, a paint erosion study may be employed to accurately identify erosion locations inside the bend pipe
configurations.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

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Fig. 16. CFD-DPM erosion rate of 90◦ elbow (a) H-H (b) H-V (c) Sand velocity in H-H (d) Sand velocity in H-V.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP2023R373), King Saud University, Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia.

Funding

This research was funded by the Researchers Supporting Project number RSP2023R373.

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R. Khan et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 153 (2023) 107565

‘nces

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