Periodic Reporting for period 2 - APESA (Advanced Pump Engineering for Severe Applications)
Reporting period: 2017-06-01 to 2019-05-31
The specific objectives of the APESA project were: to investigate material damage mechanisms; develop predictive behaviour models; and engineer mitigation strategies to limit material damage. The project was structured through five independent but inter-related projects, in which five Early Stage Researchers (ESR) were recruited and trained to form a collaborative multidisciplinary research cohort. Marta Morgantini researched the effect of induced tensile stress (due to bolt loads, etc.) on corrosion-fatigue life; Volodymyr Okorokov researched the effect of induced compressive stress (due to material strengthening processes such as autofrettage, etc.) on corrosion fatigue life; Francesco Rizzuto researched Computational Fluid Dynamics modelling of flow cavitation in pumps for design application; Blazej Polakiewicz researched failure modes in valve components and valve material selection; and Evripidis Tsergas researched electrochemical corrosion protection systems for pump applications.
The ESR research projects covered a wide range of scientific and engineering research activity, including: extensive material laboratory test programmes (fatigue, corrosion, corrosion fatigue, wear, corrosion protection); material characterisation and failure analysis; development and implementation of a new cyclic plasticity material model; Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of pre-load and fatigue test conditions, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) of cavitation flow and Boundary Element Analysis (BEA) of Sacrificial Anode Corrosion Protection in pumps.
The combined outcomes from the projects of Marta and Volodymyr led to the proposal of a new, advanced methodology for stress-life prediction of corrosion fatigue life in the presence of residual stress (tensile and compressive), utilising the new fatigue data, cyclic plasticity FEA and critical distance representation of fatigue cracks. The proposed method was successfully validated through industry-scale corrosion-fatigue testing on the WMNL dynamic pump test rig. Francesco formulated and implemented a new 1D CFD system for compressible flow with cavitation of suitable complexity, accuracy and computational requirements for use in an engineering design environment. The model was validated against test results from the WMNL pump rig and field measurements taken at a mining industry pumping station in Brazil. Evripidis’s laboratory test data was used in BEA modelling of cathodic protection systems in an established GEHO pump design, proving the concept of the potential benefit of such systems in industry applications. Blazej’s investigation of materials and coating for valve applications considered new metal matrix composite materials, which were initially thought to be promising candidates for industry application but were later found to be less effective than other less expensive materials.
Overall, the APESA project has delivered valuable new knowledge and insight to WMNL in terms of understanding, quantifying, modelling and mitigating damage mechanism in slurry pumps, in line with the project objectives. Research outcomes have been disseminated to the wider science and engineering communities through ESR presentations at international conferences in Europe, the USA and Canada. Three papers are published/in-press in leading international research journals, another is currently in the review stage and others are currently in preparation. The ESRs engaged in public communication and dissemination of the APESA project through their conference, seminar and workshop activities and other public events, including the annual UofS Engage Week, MSCA Innovative Training Network events and International Women in Engineering Day. Further industry dissemination was achieved through ESR presentations during site visits and secondments to Weir Group companies and clients (Europe, USA, Brazil) and to the Weir Group Executive Technology Board.
WMNL have developed Implementation Strategies for exploitation of research findings and outcomes within the WMNL design environment. Design IP is anticipated upon completion of these programmes, with early transfer of outcomes from the corrosion fatigue and CFD projects expected. The new cyclic plasticity material model has been implemented in the WMNL FEA environment and the cavitation flow CFD system has been implemented in the WMNL CFD environment. The Implementation Strategy for the corrosion protection and valve materials projects identifies requirements for further research prior to WMNL adoption.