Study on the Effects of Fluid Parameters on Erosion-Enhanced Corrosion of 90/10 Copper–Nickel Alloy Using Wire Beam Electrode

Abstract

This paper clarifies the effects of the fluid parameters of flow velocity, impact angle and sand impact frequency on the erosion-enhanced corrosion of 90/10 copper–nickel alloy by combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, wire beam electrode (WBE) technology and electrochemical measurements. The results show that under the conditions without sand particles, erosion-enhanced corrosion is dominated by the impact angle and the flow velocity at lower (<0.860 m/s) and higher (2.370~5.644 m/s) flow velocities, respectively, while both the two fluid parameters have noticeable effects on erosion-enhanced corrosion at intermediate flow velocities (0.860~2.370 m/s). In contrast, adding sand particles corresponding to the sand impact frequency can further increase the corrosion current density without changing the effects of the flow velocity and impact angle. It demonstrates that all three fluid parameters show great effects on the erosion-enhanced corrosion of 90/10 copper–nickel alloy under conditions with sand particles.