Solid Particle Erosion on Shield Surface of a Helicopter Rotor Blade Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

In this paper, solid particle erosion behaviors of titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V), 304 stainless steel, aluminum alloy (Al6061-T6), and pure nickel materials were experimentally and numerically investigated for different impact velocities (70, 105, 150, and 230 m/s) and angles (20°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°). In addition, erosion performances of the same materials on erosion shields used for a helicopter rotor blade were numerically determined under conditions of different angles of attack (−6°, −3°, 0°, 3°, and 6°) and different particle impact velocities (75, 150, and 230 m/s). Numerical analyses were performed with a commercial software program using the finite-volumes method, discrete phase method with the Eulerian-Lagrangian approach, and an erosion model. According to the experimental results, pure nickel material exhibited the best erosion behavior for high impact velocities, whereas Al6061-T6 material exhibited the worst erosion behavior for all impact conditions. As a result of the analyses, the modeling and simulations results were in good agreement with the experimental data. Moreover, 304 stainless steel material exhibited the best erosion performance on the erosion shield surface at impact velocities of up to 150 m/s, whereas pure nickel exhibited the best erosion performance at impact velocities higher than 150 m/s.