Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125

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Wear
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wear

Erosion wear studies on high concentration fly ash slurries

Anubhav Rawat, S.N. Singh n, V. Seshadri
Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Erosion is an unavoidable phenomenon in the pipelines transporting bulk solids in both hydraulic and
Received 1 July 2016 pneumatic conveying modes. Erosion wear depends on a number of factors like hardness of the material,
Received in revised form size and shape of the solid particles, solid concentration, velocity of particles, impact angle of solids on
10 February 2017
the target material surface etc. Several investigators have made systematic studies to establish the
Accepted 13 February 2017
Available online 20 February 2017
functional dependence of erosion wear on various parameters. In the case of hydraulic conveying of the
solids in slurry form, most of these studies are limited to low and medium solid concentrations only. But
Keywords: with the advent of new economical, environment friendly and water saving technology of solid con-
Erosion Wear veying in the form of high concentration slurries (HCSD) the study of erosion wear at these concentra-
High Concentration Slurries
tions becomes necessary. Hence, in the present study a modified pot tester capable of operating at high
Pot Tester
concentrations (Cw 460% by mass) has been designed and fabricated. Measurements have been made
Concentration and velocity effect
Angle of impact with fly ash slurries at various concentrations (in the range 50% to 70% by mass) and relative velocities (in
the range 1 to 4 m/s). It is observed that the parametric dependence of erosion wear at high solid
concentrations is at variance with that observed at lower concentrations. The erosion wear was found to
have a stronger dependence on concentration as compared to relative velocity. Studies are also con-
ducted to investigate the effect of variation of angle of impact on the erosion wear at a solid con-
centration of 65%( by mass) and it is noticed that erosion rate shows a maximum at an angle of 45°.
& 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Tsai [22] reported an indigenously developed erosion wear test

Disposal of coal ash in the form of slurry through pipelines in
most of the thermal power plants has been at low or medium
concentrations until very recently. Wear in pipeline is reasonably
well understood for low and medium concentration slurries. Many
empirical correlations are reported in literature which highlight
the dependence of wear on velocity, concentration and particle
size [11,14] etc. The shift towards high concentration ( Cw Z60%) is
fairly a recent phenomenon in thermal power industry. Very few
studies have been conducted for wear in high concentration slurry
flows and it is not clear whether the empirical relations developed
for low and medium concentrations will be applicable at high
concentrations.
Erosion wear studies at in-situ conditions or in the pilot plant
test loops are cumbersome, time consuming and expensive. Over
the years, alternate approaches have been developed to simulate
the erosion mechanism at the laboratory scale by using various
test rigs like pot tester [22], Coriolis Wear Test Rig [4], Jet Im-
pingement Tester [16] etc.
n
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: anubhav_1982@yahoo.com (A. Rawat), sns@am.iitd.ac.in,
sidhnathsingh@hotmail.com (S.N. Singh), vs@am.iitd.ac.in (V. Seshadri).
rig and carried out accelerated erosion wear tests on various steel
alloys using silica, carbon and coal particles in kerosene oil at two
concentrations (by mass) namely, 30% and 50%. Lynn et al. [17]
conducted erosion wear studies using pot tester on cylindrical
steel work pieces at 1.2% suspension of Si-C in oil. Gupta et al. [14]
have presented a systematic study on a pot tester for establishing
the effect of flow velocity, solid concentration (15–45% by mass),
and particle size on erosion wear using copper tailing slurry. They
proposed two relationships of erosion wear for the two materials
namely brass and mild steel and found that functional dependence
of erosion wear on velocity was very strong as compared to that on
particle size and concentration.
Similarly Gandhi et al. [11] used the pot tester to study the
phenomenon of erosion wear in the solid concentration (by mass)
range of 20 to 30%. They designed a special fixture for the pot
tester to conduct extensive parallel wear studies using pot tester.
On the basis of extensive experimentation with zinc tailings slurry
on brass material they concluded that the wear in parallel flow
increases with solid concentration, particle size and velocity.
Gandhi et al. [13] have also studied the effect of angle of impact of
solid particles on the erosion wear taking brass as target material
and slurry of water and zinc tailings at two concentrations namely
20% and 40% (by mass) using the pot tester. Further, Gandhi et al.
[12] using narrow sized sand slurry also established the effect of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2017.02.039
0043-1648/& 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125
Nomenclature
A wp wear piece Surface area which is subjected to erosion
(mm2)
Cw solid Concentration by mass, %
EW erosion Wear (mm/year)
WL measured weight Loss (gm)
d weighted mean particle size in mm
particle size on erosion wear, in the solid concentration range of
20% to 40%(by mass). Subsequently they added fine particles to the
coarse particles in the range of 5 to 25% keeping the overall con-
centration same. They observed that the presence of fine particles
(o 75 μm) in relatively coarse particulate slurry reduces the wear
up-to 50% if the percentage of fine particles added is 25% (w/w) of
coarser particles.
Desale et al. [7] using a pot tester studied erosion wear of sand
water slurries in the solid concentration range of 0–30%( by mass)
by ensuring uniform distribution of solid particles. Desale et al. [6]
also investigated the effect of properties of the target material on
erosion wear by choosing two ductile materials namely, AA6063
and AISI 304 L steel and three solid materials namely; quartz,
alumina and silicon carbide. They predicted that erosion wear
increases with increase in density of the slurries. Desale et al. [8]
have also established the effect of PSD on erosion wear of alumi-
nium alloy (AA 6063) using a pot tester and sand slurry at 20% (by
mass) solid concentration with wear material being placed at an-
gles of attack of 30° and 90°. The erosion wear was found to in-
crease with the increase in particle size (mean particle size).
Dube et al. [9] studied the erosion wear due to alumina and
silica slurry in turbulent operating conditions in the solid con-
centration range of 15–50%(by mass) using a “counter rotating
double disc erosion tester” manufactured by DUCOM Instruments
(P) Ltd. Abouel-Kasem et al. [1] using paint erosion technique es-
tablished a functional dependence of the erosion wear as a func-
tion of angle of attack, velocity, and time of erosion and found that
this relationship was similar to the relationship obtained by pre-
vious researchers using other techniques.
Sapate & Raut [19] conducted a study related to Slurry abrasion
in abrasion test apparatus (DUCOM make, India). They measured
the abrasion rate of hard faced low alloy steel to establish the ef-
fect of normal load, sliding distance and solid concentration (by
volume) in the range of 27.07–99.52(g/l) using silica sand as
abrasive particles. Based on their measurements, the abrasion rate
of hard faced alloy steel is directly proportional to sliding distance,
normal load, slurry concentration, and particle size of the abrasive
medium.
Ojala et al. [18] designed a sturdier pot tester suitable for high
speed erosion wear for testing of wear resistant materials suitable
for industrial applications. Wear tests in the pot tester resulted in
different wear rates at different levels of samples due to large
variations in concentration and leading to higher variation in ex-
perimental results.
Zhang et al. [24] predicted the position of puncture point in an
elbow and U-shape bend by numerically simulating the fluid
transportation. For discrete particles they tried to describe the
kinematics and trajectory and the particle–particle interaction by
discrete element method (DEM), whereas the hydrodynamic
model of the fluid phase has been described by the volume-
averaged Navier–Stokes equations. Further, for calculating the
115
t time period over which the weight loss of wear piece
has been measured (hours)
Greek symbols
ρwp Mass density of the wear piece material (Kg/m3)
solid–fluid interaction force a fluid density-based buoyancy model
has been used. Based on these and the wear pattern in the elbow
and U-bend, the puncture point locations have been determined.
Specifically they have discussed the effect of slurry velocity, bend
orientation, and angle of elbow on the puncture point location.
Cenna et al. [3] conducted experiments in a pneumatic pipeline
to analyse the critical wear patterns using fly ash. They found,
using the Scanning electron Microscope (SEM) that there exist
continuous wear channels at the bottom of the pipeline which can
be attributed to the phenomenon of larger particles moving close
to the bottom wall. Similar phenomenon is observed in slurry
flows where the concentration gradient exists with larger particles
moving close to the bottom.
Walker & Hambe [23] using a Coriolis wear tester have estab-
lished the effect of particle shape on the wear rate. They found an
inverse power law relationship between the circularity factor (CF)
and the erosion rate of white iron. Other techniques used for doing
erosion wear are ultrasonic wear meter which measures the loss in
the wall thickness of the material due to solid particles directly [2]
and erosion wear based on the tensile stress applied on the pipe
materials. Sun et al. [20] using macroscopic and SEM based ana-
lysis determined how the tensile stresses affect the erosion wear.
The above literature survey reveals that a number of test rigs
have been developed to conduct experimental studies to establish
the dependence of erosion wear on different parameters. The most
common device used to study erosion wear of different materials
is the pot tester. Most of the studies done in a pot tester are re-
stricted to a maximum concentration of 50% (by mass), and no
systematic study to establish the dependence of erosion wear at
higher concentrations [Cw Z60% (by mass)] is reported. Thus, an
attempt has been made in the current study to do a parametric
study of wear at higher concentrations using a modified pot tester.
The parameters investigated experimentally to establish the ero-
sion wear are: Solid concentration (by mass)(Cw), Relative velocity
of particles (V) and Angle of impact of solid particles on the wear
surface (θ).
2. Experimental setup and range of parameters
2.1. Details of the Pot Tester
The pot tester used in the current study is a modified version of
pot tester used by Gupta et al. [14] and Gandhi et al. [11]. The
modifications made in the pot tester keeping the needs of the high
concentration slurry are: increase in the size of the pot and in-
dependent control on speed of wear piece and stirrer.
The pot tester consists of a cylindrical tank of aluminum having
a capacity of 14.13 l as shown in Fig. 1. The Cylindrical tank dia-
meter is 300 mm and its height is 200 mm. The full unit of pot
tester consists of two motors of 1.5 HP and 2 HP capacities and
116 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125
Fig. 1. Schematic Diagram of the Modified Pot Tester. (All dimensions in mm).
each having a rated speed of 1440 rpm.
Two independent shafts are connected to the two motors, one
shaft supports the rotating arms to hold the wear piece fixtures at
a fixed radius, and the second shaft supports the stirrer arrange-
ment for stirring the slurry. This shaft is connected to the stirrer
and is rotated in the speed range of 40 to 90 rpm depending on the
concentration of the slurry used, to prevent settling of slurry for
the erosion wear study. Higher the concentration, higher is the
stirrer speed to keep the slurry suspended and perfectly homo-
geneous across the height of the cylindrical pot so that uniform
conditions at brass wear piece surface are maintained. The second
shaft is of 13 mm diameter and is provided to transfer motion from
2 HP motor fixed on platform of a drilling machine to the two
fixtures holding the wear pieces. These fixtures are connected to
the shaft with a brass sleeve of 89 mm length and 40 mm diameter
and four arms of 75 mm length. The sleeve is locked to the shaft by
hex-socket head screws. This shaft is inserted from the top into the
pot tester and supported by two bearings mounted on a trans-
parent acrylic lid. The lid is 12 mm thick and enables the visual
observations during pot tester operations. The top shaft is attached
to the drill chuck of a drilling machine by means of a flexible
coupling. The 2 HP motor drives this shaft by means of a V-belt
pulley arrangement as shown in Fig. 1. This system is provided
with a speed controller so that the required variable speeds of
127 rpm, 254 rpm, 381 rpm, and 508 rpm (corresponding to re-
lative velocities of wear pieces of 1, 2, 3 and 4 m/s respectively)
could be achieved. Four U-shaped baffles are fixed on the cylind-
rical wall of the pot to break any vortex motion produced by the
rotation of the stirrer and/or by the arms. The bottom of cylindrical
tank is provided with a drain so that slurry could be drained out
easily for the next set of experiments. Fresh slurry was introduced
from the top of the pot tester by removing the lid.
The test fixtures in the pot tester were specially designed and
fabricated using hardened steel to minimize the change in their
configuration during wear related tests. The fixtures were fabri-
cated by machining the hardened steel using CNC machines with a
provision of a central slot of 28 mm
6.5 mm
2 mm to hold the
wear pieces of similar sizes. The test fixtures and their arrange-
ments are shown in Fig. 2. The test fixtures were designed so that
they can accommodate the flat brass wear pieces as shown in
 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125
Fig. 2. Schematic Diagrams of Fixtures and Wear Pieces. (All dimensions are in mm).
Fig. 3. Details of the Angle plate used for Choosing Angle of Impact. (All dimen-
sions are in mm).
Fig. 2. Four arms are used to hold two fixtures with the sleeve at
180° apart as shown in Fig. 1. Only two fixtures are provided to
minimize the wake interference between them.
The arms are provided with two angle Plates (Fig. 3). The angle
117
plates are provided with slots so that these can be used to fix the
fixtures at different angles from 0° to 90° in steps of 15° with respect
to the direction of velocity by inserting the notch of the supporting
plates of the wear specimen (1 mm thickness and 2.5 mm width)
into the corresponding slots. The details of the notch are shown in
Fig. 3(a) and (b). When the arms rotate in parallel flow, the 4 mm
thickness of the fixtures faces the flow and the boundary layer will
separate at the sharp corners which results in disturbed flow con-
ditions at the surface for some distance downstream. In order to
avoid this phenomenon, the leading edge of the fixture upstream of
the wear surface is provided with a chamfer of 45° as shown in Fig. 2
(c). This ensures uniform flow conditions on the wear surface of the
test specimen. The fixtures are also provided with a 5 mm nut and a
4 mm rod on either side of the fixture so that the fixtures could be
fixed on the arms rigidly [Fig. 2].
The test specimens used are of brass having 70% copper and
30% zinc. The specific gravity of the test piece is 8.5 and RHN
(Rockwell hardness) of the material is 78 on B-Scale. The dimen-
sion of each wear test piece is 28 mm
6.5 mm
2 mm and is
machined from a 2 mm thick brass sheet. These wear pieces are
fixed inside the groove of the fixtures by means of 3 mm screws at
118 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125

120 distribution is determined using the standard procedure of sieve

Percentage Finer (by

100 analysis and hydrometer analysis. The specific gravity of solid

80 particles is determined by using Standard Pyknometer Method.
Weight)

60 The static settled concentration has been determined by preparing

40
20
0 of the solids becomes constant. The pH value has been measured
Particle Size (mm)
Fig. 4. Particle Size Distribution of the Fly Ash Sample.
the back. For each test a new test piece is used to ensure identical
conditions of the wear surface at the beginning of tests. It is also
ensured that the wear surfaces of the specimens are in the same
plane as that of the fixture surface so that there is no step at the
interface.
2.2. Physical and rheological properties of material used
The solid material used for the preparation of the slurries is the
fly ash collected from the west field of the thermal power plant of
NTPC at Korba, India. The erosion rate is a strong function of
physical and rheological properties of the fly ash and hence they
are determined by using standard methods [5].The particle size
a slurry sample of intermediate concentration i.e. 30% (by mass)
and allowing it to settle in a graduated measuring jar till the level
using the pH meter (Make: M/s Toshniwal System and Instruments
(P) Ltd., India).The rheological properties were determined using
AntanPaar (RheoLab QC) Rheogoniometer. Using the rheogoni-
ometer Shear Stresses at different shear rates have been measured
and the values of Yield stress as well as Bingham Viscosity are
obtained from the best fitted lines through the rheograms plotted
between Shear stress and shear rate.
The PSD of the fly ash shown in Fig. 4 shows that around 73%
particles are finer than 75 μm. The percentage of ultrafine particles
(o13 μm)is 40% which is fairly substantial. The top particle size is 432
μm and the weighted mean diameter of the sample (dwm) is 60.32 μm.
The microphotographs of the fly ash particles used for the er-
soion wear studies are shown in Fig. 5. The figure shows not only
the size of particles but also depicts the shape of the particles
which are quite irregular. The microphotographs also confirm that
the fly ash sample collected from Korba-West is comprising of
substantial amount of particles less than 30 μm and ultrafines of

Fig. 5. Microphotographs of Particles of Fly Sample Taken using Optical Microscope.

 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125
Fig. 6. Settling Characteristics of the Fly Ash Sample.
Fig. 7. Rheograms of the Fly Ash Sample at Different Concentrations.
less than 13 μm.
Settling Characteristics as a function of time is given in Fig. 4.
The final static settled concentration is 65.89% by mass. It is seen
from Fig. 6 that initial settling is slow but after 5 min, the settling
rate increases and reaches within 10% of the final static settled
concentration value in about 20 minutes. Further settling is again
slow. The specific gravity of the fly ash is 2.058 and the slurry is
chemically non-reactive at all concentrations from 50% to 70% i.e.
they possess almost neutral pH values ( close to 7.0).
The rheograms at each concentration are presented in Fig. 7
and the fly ash slurries are found to follow Bingham plastic law. It
is seen that the values of rheological parameters i.e. yield stress
and Bingham viscosity increase with the increase in concentration
in the range 50% to 70%. For Cw ¼50% the yield stress value was
0.563 Pa which increases almost ten fold to 5.976 Pa at Cw ¼70%.
The corresponding Bingham viscosity values are 0.011 Pa.s and
0.284 Pa.s. R2 values for the Best fits are in the range 0.971–0.979.
2.3. Range of parameters studied
Three series of experimental investigations have been done in the
present study to establish the dependence of wear on different
parameters. For the first study, the solid concentration of the solid-
liquid mixture is varied in the range of 50 to 70% by mass at a rota-
tional speed of 381 rpm (corresponding to a relative velocity of 3 m/
s). For this study, the angle of impact was kept at 0° (parallel flow).
For the second investigation, the erosion wear is measured for
various velocities at a constant concentration (65% by mass). The re-
lative speed is varied from 1 m/s (127 rpm) to 4 m/s (508 rpm) in
steps of 0.5 m/s. The error in speed variation is of the order of 73%
due to the mechanical devices namely belt, pulleys, coupling etc.
The third parametric investigation carried out is to establish
the effect of angle of impact on erosion wear. For this study, the
angle of impact is achieved by varying the angle of plane of the
wear pieces using the slots provided in the end support plates. The
slots in the angle plate are at an interval of 15°. Thus the angles of
impact achieved are 0°, 15°, 45°, 60° and 90°. For this study, the
concentration and speed are kept constant at 65% (by mass) and
3 m/s respectively.
119
2.4. Experimental procedure and data analysis
The slurry for experiments is prepared by mixing the solids and
water in required proportion to obtain the pre-decided concentration
before pouring it into the pot tester. Initial experiments are done to
establish the time interval after which the slurry should be replaced
to minimize the effect of particle attrition. These experiments are
conducted at a speed of 381 rpm (3 m/s) and 0° angle of attack at all
concentrations. The wear loss is measured after every 30 min. The
total time of each test is 2 h for all combinations. Initial experiments
are conducted under three conditions namely slurry replacement at
intervals of half an hour, one hour and two hours. The results ob-
tained are discussed in Section 3.1.
For determining the erosion wear, the average weight loss of
the two wear pieces is taken into consideration after running the
experiments for a total time of 2 h for all combinations of para-
meters investigated. Before each experiment, the wear pieces are
polished and after each experiment they are washed first in tap
water and then rinsed with acetone to remove any type of surface
deposition on the wear piece during experimentation. Then the
wear pieces are dried with hot air blower to evaporate any trace of
water and acetone on the wear piece. Subsequently,they are dried
at 100 °C in the oven before weighing in a micro balance having a
least count of 0.1 mg for determining the weight loss. The variation
in weight loss of the two wear pieces at any operating condition is
found to be within 74%.
The usual practice in the industry is to specify the erosion al-
lowance in pipelnes in terms of loss in wall thickness in mm/year.
For calculating the value of loss in wall thickness of pipes in mm
per year (Ew) by slurries, the formula given by James and Broad
[15] has been used. The Erosion wear in mm/year is given as:
WL 8760
EW = × × 10−6
ρwp × A wp t (2.1)
Where,
Awp ¼ Wear piece Surface area which is subjected to erosion
(mm2)
ρwp ¼ Mass density of the wear piece material (Kg/m )
3
t ¼ Time period over which the weight loss of wear piece
has been measured (hours)
WL ¼ Measured weight Loss (gm)
3. Results and discussion
The results obtained from the study are presented in Figs. 9,10
and15. The following sections present a detailed discussion on the
dependence of erosion wear on solid concentration, relative velocity
and angle of impact.The ranges of various parameters are chosen on
the basis of those that exist in the prototype pipeline systems.
3.1. Preliminary experiments
The preliminary experiments in the pot tester are conducted to
determine whether attrition of solid particles is taking place or not
by measuring the extent of erosion wear every half an hour and
replacing slurry at intervals of half an hour, one hour and 2 h at all
the four concentrations namely 50%, 60%, 65% and 70% (by
weight). Before doing these experiments, a simple experiment is
conducted to see if corrosion wear plays a significant role or not.
For this experiment, the wear pieces are run under parallel flow
120 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125
Fig. 8. Effect of Attrition on Erosion Wear at aVelocity of 3.0 m/s for Different Concentrations ( dwm ¼60.32 μm, θ¼ 0°).
condition for 2 h by filling only tap water in the pot tester. Two
hours is chosen because all experiments in pot tester are con-
ducted for that period. After the experiment, the weight loss is
measured using the micro balance and it is found to be zero within
the uncertainty (0.1 mg.) associated with the weighing machine.It
is well known that in the presence of erosion by particles, the
corrosion rate gets enhanced. Nevertheless the chemical reaction
of corrosion is somewhat slow and hence in a relatively short
period of two hours it is reasonable to assume that the contribu-
tion of corrosion to the total weight loss will not be significant.
The attrition tests are conducted at all concentrations at a rotor
speed of 381 rpm (3 m/s) with the angle of impact being fixed at
0°. At each concentration three runs are carried out for a total time
of 2 hours. In the first run, the slurry is replaced after every half an
hour. In the second run the slurry in the tank is replaced after 1 h
and in the third run the slurry is not replaced. The weight loss in
all the three cases is measured after every half an hour. Weight
loss versus time graphs for the three runs are presented in Fig. 8. It
is seen from the figure that weight loss variation is almost linear
when slurry is replaced every half an hour whereas for the other
two cases the rate of erosion wear decreases with time. Hence it is
concluded that slurry needs to be replaced after every half an hour.
The phenomenon of particle degradation is also confirmed by the
microscopic examination and PSD analysis of the slurry particles.
The microscopic analysis showed partial smoothening of sharp
edges of the particles. It is to be noted that these preliminary tests
were conducted for parallel flow conditions only.On the basis of
the above experiments, it is decided to replace the slurry after
every 30 min for all sets of data reported in the present study.
3.2. Erosion wear at different solid concentrations and velocities for
parallel flow
The first series of experiments in the pot tester are conducted
to establish the effect of solid concentration (by weight) on erosion
wear at a fixed velocity of 3 m/s and 0° angle of impact (parallel
Fig. 9. Variation of Erosion Wear with Solid Concentration. (V ¼ 3 m/s, θ¼ 0°).
flow). Each time the slurry of desired concentration is prepared by
mixing the required amount of solid and water and then poured
into the pot tester tank. The measured values of weight loss after
two hours of running at each concentration are plotted in Fig. 9. It
is expected that the erosion wear will occur only due to cutting
action as it is in parallel flow. For parallel flow experiments, fix-
tures having sharp leading edge with 45° chamfer are used to
avoid separation and prevent variation in wear at leading and
trailing edges of the wear pieces. Thus, this sharp edge ensures
uniform wear all across the surface of the wear pieces.
In order to ensure repeatability,the weight loss of both the
wear pieces is measured and then the average weight loss is cal-
culated. Further, the measurements at any given concentration
were repeated four times and the average values of weight loss are
presented in the Figure. Thus each data point in the Figure re-
presents the average value from eight test specimen. In all the
measurements, the maximum deviation of individual measure-
ments of weight loss from the average value was within 74%. This
is applicable to all measurements presented in the parametric
studies.The present results have been analysed assuming that the
dependence of erosion wear on different parameters is of the same
form as reported in literature [10,11, and 14] and is of the form
EW = KV αCWβ d γ (3.1)
 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125
Where
EW ¼ Erosion wear in mm/year
V¼ Velocity of flow in m/s
Cw ¼ Solid concentration by weight (in fraction)
d¼ Weighted mean particle size in mm
K, α,β,γ ¼ Constants whose values depend on the properties
of the material of solid particles as well as wear
surface
In the present study, only velocity and concentration have been
varied keeping the particle size as constant. Hence assuming the
effect of particle size to be included in the constant, the relation-
ship is modified as:
EW = K′V αCWβ
γ scratches represents the extent of wear taking place. The density
Where K' ¼K d
Taking log of both sides of Eq. (3.2); we get
logEW = logK′ + αlogV + βlogCW
To evaluate the values of the constants in the above relation-
ship for dependence of erosion wear on concentration and velo-
city, the results are analyzed by fitting a best fit line through data
points by considering logarithm of the parameters as variables. For
this purpose, the least square method is used. It is observed from
Fig. 9 that the variation of weight loss with solid concentration is
non-linear and wear rate increases rapidly with increase in con-
centration. The best fit line gave the value of the power law index
β for Cw as 3.41 and the R2 value for the fit was 0.971.Several in-
vestigators ([6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 25]) have worked at low and medium
concentrations and their slurries were much coarser than that
used in the present study. They have proposed empirical correla-
tion in which the dependence of erosion wear on concentration is
very weak ( Ew ∝ CW 0.5
) whereas in our study, the dependence is
3.41
very strong ( Ew ∝ CW ). The present results are in qualititive
agreement with the results presented by Sapate and Raut [19], for
high concentrations. As per their results, the dependence of
abrasion wear (erosion wear) on concentration is reasonably
strong and the power index for concentration lies between 3 and
4. One of the possible reasons for this strong dependence on Cw
could be that at higher concentrations, the viscosity increases al-
most exponentially with concentration and this results in very
elevated values of shear stress at the wall for a given velocity. This
increased stress values could cause higher erosion on the surface.
The second series of measurements are conducted at different
velocities for a fixed Cw of 65% and zero angle of impact to es-
tablish the dependence of erosion wear on velocity of flow at high
concentrations. The erosion wear rates obtained at different ve-
locities are presented in Fig. 10. As mentioned earlier the data
points are the average values with repeatability better than 74%.
From Fig. 10, it can be seen that the data points are somewhat
scattered but lie on almost a straight line. The Best Fit Line gave
the slope as 1.12(α) with the R2 value for the linear fit being 0.979.
These results are in qualitative agreement with the results re-
ported by Steward and Spearing [21] for high density slurries.
However, their measurements were made with tailing materials in
Fig. 10. Variation of Erosion Wear with Velocity. (Cw ¼ 65%, θ ¼0°).
121
a pipe loop.
The dependence of erosion wear at high concentrations on
velocity is again at variance with the earlier studies on coarse
slurries at low and medium concentrations ([11], and [14]). At
lower concentrations, the dependence of erosion wear on Velocity
is stronger than that on concentration and the value of velocity
index (α) is in the range of 2–3. This variance can be attributed to
factors like smaller inter-particle distances, increased viscosity and
variation in the flow regime that exist at higher concentrations.
Before analyzing the effect of these factors on erosion wear, it is
important to understand the microscopic observations of wear
piece surfaces. These observations are given in Figs. 11 and 12.
Fig. 11 shows the micro-photographs of the wear surface after
performing wear tests at various concentrations at a constant
velocity of 3 m/s. The longitudinal scratches represent the wear
(3.2) due to cutting action in case of parallel flow. The density of
increases with the increase in Cw values, implying higher erosion
wear. This is also confirmed by the increase in weight loss of the
(3.3) wear pieces.
Similarly, Fig. 12 shows the microscopic observations of the
wear surfaces after performing wear tests at different velocities at
a constant concentration of Cw ¼ 65%. The pattern of scratches do
not show very strong dependence on velocity thereby reasserting
somewhat weaker dependence on velocity.
The pattern of scratches in the microphotographs for parallel
flow supports the role of inter- particle distance and domination of
cutting wear which is strongly dependent on concentration. As the
erosion is dominated by cutting wear, the effect of velocity on
erosion wear is weaker as the effect of velocity on erosion wear is
also restricted by the increased viscosity. The increased viscosity
dampens the turbulent motion of the particles thereby restricting
the deformation wear which is the dominant factor for erosion
wear at low and medium concentrations. At higher concentrations,
the flow is either laminar or at best in the transition region, hence
the effect of velocity on erosion wear further gets weakened (The
range of Reynolds numbers in the present experiments is 102 to
4
103).
Based on the above discussion, it can be justified that Erosion
wear at higher concentration has strong dependence on con-
centration and not so strong dependence on Velocity. Hence the
empirical relation (Eq. (3.2)) for erosion wear at high concentra-
tions can be taken as:
EW = K ′V1.12CW
3.41
(3.4)
The value of the constant K’ in the above equation is taken as
the average value obtained from all the measurements. Using the
above correlation, values of parallel flow erosion wear have been
calculated corresponding to all 12 experimental conditions and
comparison between these predicted values and the experimental
data obtained on pot tester is drawn in Fig. 13. The Figure shows
that the deviations between the measured and the predicted va-
lues obtained using the correlation are within the limit of 712%
which suggests a good fit for the correlation obtained.
3.3. Erosion wear at different angles of impact
The erosion wear of the wear pieces is evaluated at different
angles of impact by inclining the wear surface at an angle with
respect to relative velocity. This variation of angle is achieved by
inserting the notch of the fixtures in different slots of the angle
plates fixed on the arms. Every slot of the angle plate is at an angle
of 15°. Thus, the experiments are conducted at 0°, 15°, 45°, 60° and
90° keeping the concentration of the slurry at Cw ¼65%, and ve-
locity at 3 m/s. A plot between angle of impact and erosion rate in
122 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125

Fig. 11. Microscopic Views of the Wear Pieces at Different Concentrations. (V ¼ 3 m/s, dwm ¼ 60.32 μm and θ¼ 0°).

mm/year is drawn in Fig. 14. Again the values shown in Fig. 14 are
average of the values obtained after repeating experiments four
times (with a maximum scatter of 74%) at each angle of impact.
Fig. 14 clearly indicates that as the impact angle increases, the
weight loss also increases. From 0° to 15° the increase is only 4%,
whereas from 15° to 45° the value of weight loss increases by
around 37% making the weight loss value to be maximum at 45°
angle of impact. This result is in accordance with the data of
Gandhi [25]. This is also supported by the fact that for a ductile
material the angle of maximum shear is around 45°. Thus for brass
the maximum wear happens at 45° impact angle due to dom-
inance of shearing by the solid particles of the slurry.
After 45° the value of weight loss starts to decrease until 90°
but the curve is not symmetric with respect to 45° line. In general,
the contribution of cutting wear to the overall erosion wear upto
about 30° impact angle is much higher as compared to deforma-
tion wear (due to the repeated impact of particles on the surface
and consequent failure of the material in fatigue). Beyond 30°
impact angle, the contribution of deformation wear increases as
angle of impact increases. The contribution of cutting wear to
overall wear beyond 45° impact angle is expected todecrease as
compared to deformation wear. The magnitude of erosion wear at
90° impact angle is only marginaly higher than the value obtained
at 0° impact angle.
The microphotographs of the wear surfaces after performing
wear tests for different impact angles at a constant concentration
of Cw ¼ 65% and a flow velocity of 3 m/s are presented in Fig. 15.
This Figure shows that at an angle of impact of 15° the surface is
 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125
Fig. 12. Microscopic Views of the Wear Pieces at Different Velocities. (Cw ¼ 65%, dwm ¼60.32 μm and θ ¼0°).
Fig. 13. Comparison between Predicted Wear and Measured Wear.
Fig. 14. Effect of Angle of Impact on Erosion Wear. (Cw ¼ 65%, V ¼ 3 m/s).
123
dominated by longitudinal scratches. As the angle of impact in-
creases the density of longitudinal scratches reduces and small
indents start to appear. Small indents are the symbols of de-
formation wear due to repeated impact of particles. This implies
that as the angle of impact increases the wear due to cutting re-
duces and that due to impact wear increases. Fig. 15(c) clearly
indicates the dominence of deformation/impact wear in case of
angle of attack of 90°.
Gandhi [25] has also studied the effect of impact angle at low/
medium concentrations using pot tester. He observed that under
equivalent conditions, the erosion wear at 90° impact angle was
significantly higher than that at 0° impact angle. The erosion wear
at 90° impact angle was in the range of 3 to 4 times the erosion
wear at 0°. In the present study, this ratio is approximately 1.04
which implies that as concentration increases, the deformation
wear reduces inspite of increase in the number of particles. This
phenomenon can be attributed to the increased inter particle in-
teraction and consequent increase in the viscosity of the slurry
which restricts the penetraion of particles to strike the wear sur-
face by absorbing the kinetic energy of the particles as they ap-
proach the surface.
124 A. Rawat et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 114–125
at θ=150
(a) 20µm
Direction of Parallell Flow
At θ=900
(c)
Fig. 15. Microscopic Views of the Wear Pieces at Different Impact Angles. (Cw ¼ 65%, dwm ¼60.32 μm and V ¼ 3 m/s).
4. Concluding remarks
Experiments in a pot tester are conducted to establish a func-
tional relationship of erosion rate with concentration of slurries
and flow velocity for fly ash slurries at high concentrations
(Cw Z50%). Effect of angle of impact on erosion wear is also stu-
died. Following conclusions are drawn from the experimental re-
sults obtained:
 Erosion wear has comparatively stronger functional dependence
on concentration of solid particles rather than flow velocity of
particles for high concentration fly ash slurries for the case of
nearly parallel flow. The power law index for concentration is
3.41 whereas for velocity it is 1.12. This is in contrast to low and
medium concentrations where the dependence on velocity is
much stronger than that on concentration. This happens due to
predominance of cutting action in parallel flows at higher
concentrations.
 Maximum erosion wear occurs at an angle of attack of 45° for
ductile material. The present studies also support the above
condition for brass which is a ductile material.
 From experimental data it can also be seen that for a given
velocity, concentration and particle size, the erosion wear in
parallel flow is almost same as that under the impact conditions
existing at 900 angle of impact. The difference is marginal and
at θ=450
(b) 20µm
m
20µm
the factor is in the range of 1.04, whereas for low and medium
concentrations, this ratio is between 3 and 4 [25].
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