Aero-engines operating in dusty environments are subject to ingestion of erodent particles leading to erosion damage of blades and a permanent drop in performance. This work concerns the study of particle dynamics and erosion of the front compression stage of a commercial turbofan. Particle trajectories simulations used a stochastic Lagrangian tracking code that solves the equations of motion separately from the airflow in a stepwise manner, while the tracking of particles in different cells is based on the finite element method. As the locations of impacts and rates of erosion were predicted, the subsequent geometry deteriorations were assessed. The number of particles, sizes, and initial positions were specified conformed to sand particle distribution (MIL-E5007E, 0-1000 micrometers) and concentrations 50–700 mg/m3. The results show that the IGV blade is mainly eroded over the leading edge and near hub and shroud; also the rotor blade has a noticeable erosion of the leading and trailing edges and a rounding of the blade tip corners, whereas in the diffuser, erosion is shown to spread over the blade surfaces in addition to the leading edge and trailing edge.

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effects of sand ingestion on an axial fan with an upstream guide vane (contra-whirl). The experimental work was divided into two types of testing. Firstly, local injection tests were carried out to generate qualitative erosion patterns in order to validate a trajectory code. Secondly, global sand injection tests were carried out in order to assess the geometry deterioration and the subsequent degradation in the axial fan aerodynamic characteristics. Two types of particle were used; a narrow size bandwidth sand (150–300 μm) and MIL-E5007E sand (0–1000 μm). In all sand injection tests the fan operated near design point at a constant speed of rotation.