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Numerical Simulation of the Twin-Wire Arc Spraying Process: Modeling the High Velocity Gas Flow Field Distribution and Droplets Transport

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Abstract

During the twin-wire arc spraying, a high velocity gas stream is used to accelerate the arc-melting materials and propel the droplets toward the substrate surface. This study is aimed at investigating the gas flow formation and droplets transport processes using numerical simulation method. Results from the 3-D gas flow field model show that the distribution of the gas flow velocity on the twin-wire intersection plane is quite different from that on the twin-wire vertical plane. Based on the 3-D model, the convergence amplitude of the high velocity zone in the jet center is improved by modifying the gun head design. It is also observed that a flat substrate existed downstream from the gas nozzle exit results in decreasing close to zero in velocity of the gas jet near the substrate. In addition, the predicted droplet trajectories and velocity distributions exhibited good agreement with experimentally observations.

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Abbreviations

C D :

drag coefficient

C p :

specific heat (J kg−1 K−1)

d :

diameter (m)

\( \bar{d} \) :

mean mass diameter (m)

ε:

dissipation rate of k (m2 s−3)

F D :

drag force factor

h :

enthalpy (J kg−1)

It :

turbulence intensity

κ:

thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

k :

turbulent kinetic energy (m2 s−2)

n :

spreading parameter

p :

pressure (Pa)

Pr :

Prandtl number

ρ:

material density (kg m−3)

Re :

Reynolds number

S :

strain rate magnitude (s−1)

T :

total temperature (K)

τ:

stress tensor component (kg m−1 s−2)

μ:

laminar dynamic viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

μe :

effective dynamic viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

μt :

turbulent viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

u:

velocity component (m s−1)

V :

velocity magnitude (m s−1)

x :

component of Cartesian coordinate (m)

g :

gas

d :

droplet

i, j, k :

Cartesian coordinate direction

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the priority support by China Natural Science Foundation (51105377, 50905185) and National Basic Research Program (2011CB013400).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science and Technology on Remanufacturing Laboratory, Academy of Armored Forces Engineering, Beijing, 100072, China

    Yongxiong Chen, Xiubing Liang, Shicheng Wei, Xi Chen & Binshi Xu

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  1. Yongxiong Chen
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  2. Xiubing Liang
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  3. Shicheng Wei
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  4. Xi Chen
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  5. Binshi Xu
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Correspondence to Yongxiong Chen.

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Chen, Y., Liang, X., Wei, S. et al. Numerical Simulation of the Twin-Wire Arc Spraying Process: Modeling the High Velocity Gas Flow Field Distribution and Droplets Transport. J Therm Spray Tech 21, 263–274 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-011-9723-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-011-9723-0

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