MODELING OF MOLTEN DROPLET IMPINGEMENT ON A NONFLAT SURFACE

Numerical modeling of deformation and interaction of molten tungsten, nickel and titanium droplets impinging on a non-flat surface during thermal spraying has been performed in the present study. This research represents a significant advance relative to earlier published theoretical and numerical studies which were limited to a flat surface. Under the practical conditions in thermal spray processes, the complex physical phenomena of droplet spreading and consolidation take place at a microscopically rough and non-flat surface on a target substrate. The present study, therefore, provides a novel approach to the practical impingement behavior of molten droplets. On the basis of the present study, some fundamental mechanisms governing pore formation in spray processed materials may be established and the concomitant effects of important processing parameters may be determined.