Computation and Experimental Results of Wear in a Slurry Pump Impeller

Using a computer program to obtain the internal flow in a pump impeller, the trajectories of solid particles were found and used to predict the regions of wear within the pump. In order to assess the validity of this prediction method tests were undertaken to obtain the erosion-prone areas of the pump by observing the erosion of layers of paint on the pump impeller. There was good agreement but the level of erosion was underestimated by the predictions. The calculation method and the use of paint to obtain wear patterns were both promising methods. Maximum wear in this case was near the leading edge on the pressure side and on the back shroud in the eye of the impeller.