Abstract
Computational fluid dynamic techniques were used to analyze the gas flow behavior of a typical atomization configuration. The calculated results are summarized as follows. The atomization gas flow at the atomizer’s exit may be either subsonic at ambient pressure or sonic at an underexpanded condition, depending on the magnitude of the inlet gas pressure. When the atomization gas separates to become a free annular gas jet, a closed recirculating vortex region is formed between the liquid delivery tube and the annular jet’s inner boundary. Upon entering the atomization chamber, an underexpanded sonic gas flow is further accelerated to supersonic velocity during expansion. This pressure adjustment establishes itself in repetitive expansion and compression waves. A certain protrusion of the liquid delivery tube is crucial to obtain a stable subatmospheric pressure region at its exit. The vortex flow under the liquid delivery tube tends to transport liquid metal to the high kinetic energy gas located outside the liquid delivery tube, thereby leading to an efficient atomization.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. Lawley, Atomization (Metal Powder Industries Federation, Princeton, NJ, 1992).
J.K. Beddow, The Production of Metal Powders by Atomization (Heyden & Son, London: Philadelphia, 1978).
J.D. Ayers and I.E. Anderson, U.S. Patent No. 4 619 845 (22 February 1985).
J.D. Ayers and I.E. Anderson, J. Metals 37(8), 16 (1985).
I.E. Anderson, M.G. Osborne, and T.W. Ellis, JOM 49(3), 38 (1996).
I.E. Anderson, J. Ting, V.K. Pecharsky, C. Witham, and R.C. Bowman, in Advances in Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials (Chicago, Ill.), edited by R.A. Mckotch and R. Webb, (Metal Powder Industries Federation, 1997), Vol. 1, p. 5–31.
E.J. Lavernia and Y. Wu, Spray Atomization and Deposition (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1996).
A. Ünal, Metall. Trans. B. 20B, 613 (1989).
A. Ünal, Mater. Sci. Technol. 3, 1029 (1987).
A. Ünal, Metall. Trans. B. 20B, 833 (1989).
J. Liu, L. Arnberg, N. Bäckström, H. Klang, and S. Savage, Mater. Sci. Eng. 98, 43 (1988).
J.C. Baram, M.K. Veistinen, E.J. Lavernia, M. Abinante, and N.J. Grant, J. Mater. Sci. 23, 2457 (1988).
I.E. Anderson, R.S. Figliola, and H. Morton, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 148, 101 (1991).
M.K. Veistinen, E.J. Lavernia, M. Abinante, and N.J. Grant, Mater. Lett. 5, 373 (1987).
S.A. Miller, R.S. Miller, D.P. Mourer, and R.W. Christensen, Int. J. Powder Metall. 33(7), 37 (1997).
U. Fritsching, V. Uhlenwinkel, and K. Bauckhage, Phoenics J. Computational Fluid Dynamics Appl. 5(1), 81 (1992).
P.I. Espina, in Sprayforming, edited by K. Bauckhage and V. Uhlenwinkel, (University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany, 1999), p. 127.
H. Liu and F.R. Dax, in Advances in Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials (Chicago, Ill.), edited by R.A. Mckotch and R. Webb, (Metal Powder Industries Federation, Princeton, NJ, 1997), Vol. 1, p. 3–5.
J. Mi, R.S. Figliola, and I.E. Anderson, Metall. Mater. Trans. B. 28B, 935 (1997).
M.W. Peretti, J.J. Conway, W.B. Eisen, and R.A. Longo, in Advances in Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials (Vancouver, B.C.), edited by C.L. Rose and M.H. Thibodeau, (Metal Powder Industries Federation, Princeton, NJ, 1999), Vol. 1, p. 1–13.
B.E. Launder and D.B. Spalding, Computational Methods Applied Mechanical Engineering (Academic Press, London: New York, 1974), Vol. 3, p. 269.
Theory Manual of CFD-ACE+ (CFD Research Corp., Huntsville, Alabama, 1998), Vol. 5, P. 5–8.
F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics (McGraw-Hill, 1979).
P.A. Thompson, Compressible-Fluid Dynamics (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1971).
C.A.J. Fletcher, Computational Techniques for Fluid Dynamics 2, (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1988).
J. Mi, J. Ting, R. Terpstra, I.E. Anderson, C-P. Mao, and R.S. Figliola, in Advances in Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials (Chicago, Ill.), edited by R.A. Mckotch and R. Webb (Metal Powder Industries Federation, 1997), Vol. 1, p. 5–13.
J. Ting, J. Mi, I.E. Anderson, and R. Terpstra, in Advances in Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials (Chicago, Ill.), edited by R.A. Mckotch and R. Webb, (Metal Powder Industries Federation, Princeton, NJ, 1997), Vol. 1, p. 5–53.
C-K. Hu, R. Rosenberg, and K.N. Tu, in Stress-Induced Phenomena in Metallization, Proc. 2nd Int. Workshop, edited by P. Ho, C.Y. Li, and P. Totta (Am. Inst. Phys., New York, 1994), p. 195.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xu, Q., Cheng, D., Trapaga, G. et al. Numerical Analyses of Fluid Dynamics of an Atomization Configuration. Journal of Materials Research 17, 156–166 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2002.0024
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2002.0024