The effect of inter-particle collisions in erosive streams on the distribution of energy flux incident to a flat surface

The effect of interference between incident spheres in a stream, and those rebounding from a flat surface on the distribution of incident energy flux to the surface was determined for a typical erosion testing apparatus using a previously described computer simulation. A dimensional analysis allowed for presentation of the results in a generalized format, so that they could be used to assess interference effects under varying input parameters. Under conditions in which less than 50% of the incident particles underwent inter-particle collisions, expressions describing the impact velocity, the striking angle and the spatial distribution of impacting particles were derived as a function of process parameters. Compared to the no-interference case, the incident energy flux was found to significantly decrease near the center of the impacting stream, but increase far from the centre, when incident parameters that tended to reduce the space between particles in the incident stream were varied. Implications for erosion test ing and expected initial erosion profile were discussed.