A Combined Experimental and Numerical Study of Shotcrete Jets and Related Wet Spray Nozzles

In this research,the dynamics of wet spray nozzles with different geometries,used to accelerate shotcrete,are investigated on the basis of a suitable three-dimensional mathematical model and related numerical method.Simulations have been conducted in the frame of the SIMPLEC algorithm.The k-εturbulence model has been used to account for turbulent effects.The study shows that when the angle of the convergent section is less than 3°,it has a scarce effect on the dynamics of the jet of shotcrete;with the increase of the convergence angle,the shotcrete jet velocity decreases and the nozzle wear increases;when this angle is greater than 6°,the concrete outlet jet velocity is very small and the nozzle can easily be blocked.Experimental results are in good agreement with the outcomes of the numerical simulations,which indicates that the used approach is reliable.