Open Access

ARTICLE

Erosion of Metal Wire Mesh Screens under Varying Flow Velocity, Sand Concentration, and Impact Angle

Baocheng Shi^1,2,*, Minyi Yang², Zhibin Wang¹, Qing Yuan², Jiang Bian², Yajun Deng², Kai Liu²

1 National Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Catalysis and Carbon Dioxide Utilization, Yangtze University, Wuhan, China

* Corresponding Author: Baocheng Shi. Email:

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2026, 22(8), 8 https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2026.087023

Received 09 June 2026; Accepted 24 August 2026; Issue published 04 September 2026

Abstract

This study investigates the erosion behavior of metal mesh sand-control screens under representative operating conditions and develops an empirical model for predicting erosion rate and screen service life. Single-layer metal mesh screens were tested using a Multifunctional Spin Hydrodynamics (MSH) rotating apparatus under systematically varied liquid velocity, sand concentration, and particle impact angle. The influence of each operating parameter on erosion was quantified using a one-factor-at-a-time experimental design, while the underlying wear mechanisms were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. The results show that liquid velocity is the dominant factor controlling erosion, producing the largest variation in erosion rate over the investigated range. The erosion rate increases monotonically with liquid velocity (0.5, 2.0 m/s), sand concentration (0.3%, 0.8%), and impact angle (15°, 45°). Erosion is highly localized and is governed primarily by pitting, cutting, and plowing mechanisms, with blocked regions exhibiting the most severe material degradation. An empirical erosion model is developed and validated against the experimental data, achieving an average prediction error of 13.3%.

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Keywords

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