Numerical Simulation of Molten Metal Droplet Impinging in Uniform Droplet Spray Rapid Prototyping

Abstract

A two-dimensional mathematical model has been developed to simulate the impinging and solidification process of a single droplet onto substrate in uniform droplet spray rapid prototyping. Droplet free surface is tracked by volume-of-fluid (VOF) algorithm. The effect of surface tension on the droplet is taken into consideration by means of considering surface tension to be a component of the body force. The governing equations are solved using a finite volume formulation. The calculation results predicted the final shape of a molten droplet impacting onto a solid substrate, and revealed that the solidification process began at the leading edge with the spread process of droplet. The simulation results provide insight and information not easy available from experimental. Keywords: numerical simulation, droplet, rapid prototyping