| The interference between an incident stream of spheres and those rebounding from a flat surface was described using a computer model. The model was capable of examining the effect of material and process parameters on the severity and frequency of inter-particle collisions for systems consisting of in excess of 104 particles. Useful dimensionless parameters were identified, and a parametric study of their role in erosion testing and blast cleaning processes was performed. It was demonstrated that certain trends in erosion testing could be explained in terms of the interference effects predicted by the model. Predictions of the critical flux at which interparticle collisions become important were also determined for a wide variety of input parameters. The results of the present study have applications in erosion testing, blast cleaning, and shot peening. |
