Numerical simulation of sand erosion phenomena in a particle separator

Erosive actions of solid particles within a flow field are very important in a great number of engineering applications such as aircraft, ship, turbo-machinery and so on, which is referred to "sand erosion". We have developed the numerical method to predict sand erosion phenomenon and the temporal change of the eroded surface. Performing iterative computations for the turbulent flow field, the particle trajectories, the mass removed from a wall, and the deformation of the wall, the behavior of sand erosion can be simulated numerically. In the present study, our numerical procedure is applied to the particle separator of a helicopter engine. Several kinds of particles with different diameter and combinations of wall and particle materials are selected to clear the sand erosion phenomena within the separator. Investigating the numerical results, the characteristics of particle motions, the temporal change of wall shape and the reason for the deterioration of separation efficiency are clarified.