Experimental and Numerical Simulation Study on Erosion Wear Behavior of AISI 1020 Steel

In the process of gas drilling, the cuttings transported by the fluid flow through the natural gas gathering pipeline at high speed, resulting in serious erosion damage to the pipeline, thus endangering the safety of the drilling process. This study attempts to research the erosion wear law of AISI 1020 steel under the effects of solid particles. The model particle was extracted according to the shape characteristics of the cuttings, and the dynamic behavior of the cuttings was simulated by FEM. The characteristics of the impact stress on the surface of AISI 1020 steel and the accumulation form of erosion pits were analyzed under different impact angles, velocities, and particle sizes. Under the given calculation parameters, with an increase in the impact angle, the maximum equivalent stress of the target first increased, then decreased, and reached a maximum value of 1360 MPa, at an impact angle of 45°. At a large impact angle, the erosion pit was characterized by gouging and plastic extrusion. At a small impact angle, the erosion pit mainly comprised micro-cutting and furrow lips. There was material accumulation on both sides and the front end of the erosion pit, and the height of the deformation lip at the front end of the erosion pit increased gradually. With an increase in the impact velocity of the cuttings, the maximum equivalent stress, the accumulation material at the front end of the erosion pit, and the height of the deformation lip increased significantly. When the particle size was less than 0.15 mm, the maximum equivalent stress increased with the increase in particle size, and reached the maximum value of 1410 MPa at 0.15 mm. When the particle size exceeded 0.15 mm, the maximum equivalent stress decreased with the increase in particle size. The dynamic behavior of rock cuttings impacting AISI 1020 steel was successfully simulated by the finite element method. The influences of the impact angle, impact velocity, and particle size on the impact process of AISI 1020 steel was determined.