Process modeling pressure-swirl-gas-atomization for metal powder production

The paper aims at integral process modeling and simulation of the pressure-swirl-gas-atomization process for metal powder production. A numerical analysis is applied in this way to the atomization and spray process of a molten metal for metal powder production. The primary disintegration process of swirling conical sheets of the molten metal is described by the Volume of Fluid (VOF) approach, while the subsequent droplet spray process is simulated through the Eulerian-Lagrangian approach by taking the secondary breakup of produced droplets as well as in-flight spray phenomena such as drag and droplet solidification into account. The characteristics of liquid sheet fragmentation such as primary droplet size and velocity are derived and compared with measurements. The coupled simulation is realized by setting the outcomes of liquid sheet fragmentation as the initial conditions for the droplet spray process simulation. An assessment of classical secondary breakup models is shown in comparison with measurements. The droplet solidification behaviour in a spray process is investigated. Finally, the powder particle size distribution will be derived from the process modeling and simulation. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.