Based on the biological characteristics of earthworm, the dorsal pore jet parameters were analyzed to establish elbow erosion model. The discrete phase model and standard k-ε turbulence model were used to carry on numerical simulation of the erosion characteristics and study the mechanism of improving elbow erosion characteristics. The results showed that the most serious erosion area was the elbow lower surface, while bionic earthworm dorsal pore jet could significantly reduce the erosion rate of this area, thereby reducing the overall erosion rate. When the jet velocity was the same, the smaller the jet distance, the lower the erosion rate would be. With the increase of the jet velocity, the erosion rate decreased first and then increased. When the jet distance was 0.5 times the elbow diameter and the jet velocity was 0.3 times the flow velocity, the erosion rate was the lowest (decreased by 79.29%). When the jet velocity was less than 0.5 m·s-1, low-velocity strips formed at elbow lower surface due to the jet and reduced the kinetic energy of the solid particles near the wall; when the jet velocity was greater than 0.2 times the flow velocity, vortex cushion effect formed, therefore reduced the erosion rate significantly.
Keywords: Jet; elbow; erosion; vortex cushion effect.