ABSTRACT
Timely inspection of pipe wear is essential for ensuring efficient slurry circulation, effective muck transportation, and minimizing downtime in slurry shield TBM operations. In this study, laboratory-scale testing equipment was developed to evaluate the erosive wear on pipes in the bending section caused by slurry circulation. Laboratory experiments involved circulating crushed granite fragments through four different fluids, with their densities adjusted by varying the proportions of water, bentonite, and kaolinite. The crushed granite fragments maintained a consistent size distribution and weight ratio throughout all tests. Pipe wear was evaluated by measuring changes in both weight and wall thickness before and after the experiments. Wall thickness measurements were taken at 24 points across three cross-sections of the bending section, with each cross-section containing eight measurement points along the pipe’s circumference. The wear rate increased with the fluid’s density, and the areas experiencing the most significant wall thickness reduction varied according to the fluid density. The study concluded that higher fluid density led to greater erosive wear due to altered collision patterns of the solid particles.
