The abrasive jet, which is one of the water jet technology, is widely used in the industry for materials cutting and drilling. Since the abrasive jet is formed by mixing solid particles with a high velocity water jet, erosive effect of the abrasive jet is higher than that of conventional water jet. However, few basic studies, such as flow characteristics of abrasive jet, similarity low of fluid mechanics and so on, have been carried on.
In this paper, experimental study is performed by the abrasive jet with silica sand particles to investigate flow characteristics and erosive action of the abrasive jet. The time-averaged velocity of the abrasive jet in the experiment is 70m/sec to 250m/sec, determined by means of the impact force measurement.
The theory is proposed to estimate the energy loss and the velocity of abrasive jet, the momentum and the kinetic energy of abrasive, in terms of abrasive mixing rate. Moreover, the distance attenuation of the velocity of the abrasive jet is clarified by means of the impact force measurement, then the dispersion of the abrasive jet is discussed comparing the erosion shape of targets. Analyzing the relation between the velocity of the abrasive jet and erosion speed of the target is analyzed, it is concluded that the erosion speed is proportional to the kinetic energy for ductile materials such as metals, and proportional to the momentum for brittle materials such as fine ceramics.
