Numerical and Experimental Study of Abrasion Erosion in Hydraulic Structures of High-Velocity Water Flow

In many huge hydraulic constructions such as dam spillways, large quantities of concrete can be ruined according to the long-term action of water-borne solids. Thus, the life span of these structures can be significantly reduced while the maintenance costs can be highly increased. Accordingly, in this work, the abrasion wear loss of concrete was evaluated using a new proposed apparatus. Samples of different compressive strengths of 25, 35 and 55 MPa were prepared and tested at two various ages (7 and 28 days). Moreover, the effect of the agitation paddle angle was estimated as well. Three different angles of 30, 45 and 60° were evaluated experimentally and numerically using ANSYS software as well. The obtained results showed that at 28- day age and with 60° paddle angle, the abrasion resistance for compressive strengths of 35 and 55 MPa improves approximately by 20 and 38% as compared with that of 25 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, both of the experimental and numerical investigations showed that the maximum abrasion loss can be achieved due to the use of 60° paddle angle while the lowest can be achieved using 45°paddle angle.