Numerical study of the spreading and solidification of a molten particle impacting onto a rigid substrate under plasma spraying conditions

Abstract

This paper deals with simulation of the spreading and solidification of a fully molten particle impacting onto a preheated substrate under traditional plasma spraying conditions. The multiphase problem governing equations of mass, momentum and energy conservation taking into account heat transfer by conduction, convection and phase change are solved by using a Finite Element approach. The interface between molten particle and surrounding air, is tracked using the Level Set method. The effect of the Reynolds number on the droplet spreading and solidification, using a wide range of impact velocities (40-250m/s), is reported. A new correlation that predicts the final spread factor of splat as a function of Reynolds number is obtained. Thermal contact resistance, viscous dissipation, wettability and surface tension forces effects are taken into account.