Comparison of Simulated and Experimental Particle Mean Temperature and Velocity for Thermal Spray Coating Process

Abstract

We numerically solve the system of nonlinear and coupled partial differential equations expressing the conservation of mass of species, the total mass, linear momentum, and energy, the k-ε turbulence model for plasma flow, the lumped heat capacity model for particle heating, and Newton’s equations for the particle motion under pertinent initial and boundary conditions. The interaction between the powder particles and the plasma is modeled by considering the drag force the plasma exerts on the particles and vice versa. The effect of particle vaporization as well as that of turbulence modulation on the mean velocity and the mean temperature of particles is also considered. The initial-boundary-value problem has been numerically analyzed by using the recently developed software, LAVA-3DI. The computed results are found to agree well with the test observations reported in the literature.