Modeling and Experimental Validation of Deformation of Al-33Cu Droplet during Impingement on a Substrate

Abstract

Impingement of a molten Al-33Cu droplet over a substrate causes formation of a splat after spreading and solidification. Modeling of the heat transfer and fluid flow during the impingement and solidification of metal droplets on a substrate is helpful for the better understanding and control of related spray casting and thermal spray coating processes. Authors have thus developed a comprehensive mathematical model of the droplet impingement on the FLUENT 6.3.16 platform. The model takes into account all the inter-related phenomena, viz., (a) heat transfer through the droplet, solid substrate, solid-droplet interface and adjacent gaseous atmosphere, (b) fluid flow in the droplet and adjacent gas and (c) solidification. The droplet undergoes very large and rapid deformation during the impingement. The model predicts the deformation as well as the thermal and flow field within the droplet. Present work reports the experimental validation of model predictions on the droplet deformation, which was carried out using a high speed camera.