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Features
- Capable of straight jet, spray and droplet tests
- Port to host a high speed camera for image water droplet impact
- Safety features – splash guards, emergency stop button and test duration limits
- User friendly controls and operation
- Precisely mimics the impact of droplet onto rotor blades at flight speed of 225m/s
Applications
- Erosion resistant tapes used in rotor blades and wind turbine blades
- Hard coatings to protect steam transport pipes in power plants
- Metallic alloys used for bends and T-joints in steam transport pipes in power plant
- Non-conventional machining technique for peening, milling and texturing of hard to machine materials
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Parameter Specifications Velocity 25 m/s to 250 m/s Flow Rate 8 L/min Pressure 32 MPa Jet Diameter 2 mm to 4 mm Droplet Size 2 mm to 4 mm Nozzle Diameter 0.8 mm, 2 mm and 4 mm Impact Angle 15 degrees to 90 degrees (variable) Droplet Impact Frequency 5 to 100 droplets/sec Impact Cycle Up to 5 million cycles Sample Stage (X, Y axis displacement) 25 X 25 mm -
Water Droplet Erosion Tester
In certain applications like aerospace, when water droplets impact aircrafts in transit moving at high velocities, repetitive impacts of a surface with water droplets can be more destructive than impact with solid particles. This is due to high impact pressure leading to shear waves and lateral jetting.
Repetitive water droplet impact on any component can affect its performance efficiency due to surface irregularities – increased roughness and formation of craters. Aircrafts operating in rainy conditions show wear in the leading edges of the wings, engine and rotor blades. In power plants the steel pipe thinning process is attributed to repetitive impact of condensed water droplets. Wear due to such conditions increase the cost of operation and maintenance. Studying these processes and designing materials and mechanisms for optimized performance can contribute greatly to increased life and performance.
The Ducom Liquid Droplet Erosion Tester simulates the pressure, droplet size and velocity of the rain droplets to investigate erosion of aerospace components and transport systems in power plants.