Numerical simulation of the erosion process of wire wrapped screen based on erosion-dynamic grid coupling

Sand erodes the wire wrapped screen again and again and results in its local damage (e.g. the deformation of screen mesh size), which is main cause leading to the sand control failure of wire wrapped screen ultimately. At present, the theoretical studies on the erosion destroy of wire wrapped screen generally consider the mass loss of the wire wrapped screen only, but not the influences of screen mesh deformation on the sand control effect of wire wrapped screen. In this paper, the CFD finite element model was established based on the theory of erosion-dynamic mesh coupling, and the liquid-solid two-phase flow model of wire wrapped screen was established by means of Mclaury abrasion forecast model and Realizable k-\varepsilon turbulent model. Then, the influence of sand on the erosion evolution of wire wrapped screen in the process of sand control and the influential laws of flow velocity, sand particle diameter and sand mass fraction on the erosion and abrasion of wire wrapped screen were analyzed. Finally, the erosion forecast model of working condition without sand blockage was established by using numerical simulation results and curve fitting method. It is indicated that the erosion deformation zones of wire wrapped screen are mainly distributed at the downstream side of wrapping wire, right above the wrapping wire and around the hole of base pipe, and extends outward over time, which directly shows the starting position of the erosion destroy of wire wrapped screen. During the erosion evolution of the wrapping wire, the erosion deformation is the maximum and negatively correlated with the specific erosion rate over time and its average error from the experimental results is less than 2%. Under the working conditions without sand blockage (particle diameter ＜123 μm), the erosion rate of wire wrapped screen increases exponentially with the increase of fluid flow velocity and linearly with the increase of sand mass fraction and sand particle diameter. The fitted calculation formula and the numerical simulation data are basically consistent. In conclusion, the numerical calculation results based on erosion-dynamic mesh coupling are of reference significance to the life forecast of wire wrapped screen.