OPTIMIZATION OF ROTATING CAGE AUTOCLAVE (RCA) DESIGN THROUGH FINITE VOLUME SIMULATION WITH FOCUS ANALYSIS OF WALL SHEAR STRESS ON ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE

• Main Author: Ridlo, Muhammad
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/57538
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Rotating Cage Autoclave (RCA) test is one of the methods used to evaluate materials and corrosion inhibitors. Field practice shows that existing RCA designs produce non-uniform damage on the specimen surface. Determination of the corrosion rate becomes invalid because the calculation assumes general corrosion. In this study, optimization of the RCA development design was carried out to obtain uniform damage in the specimen based on the Wall Shear Stress (WSS) profile. Computational Fluid Dynamics using ANSYS Fluent Student Version was performed to obtain the effect of design modification WSS. The variations in the dimensions of the stirrer and rotation speed of the stirrer were performed to see how it affected WSS on the specimen surface. The results showed that the developing design produces a more uniform WSS profile on the specimen surface than the existing design at the same rotational speed. The variation in the dimensions of the stirrer had no significant effect on the WSS profile on the specimen surface. The rotation speed of the stirrer is directly proportional to the WSS profile on the specimen surface. A correction-equation was developed to predict maximum WSS on the developing design as a function of the rotation speed of the stirrer. Correction-equation needs to be validated with laboratory experiments.