Numerical Simulation of Metal Particle Deposition in 3D Printing by Low-Pressure Cold Spraying
摘要
Numerical simulations of three-dimensional turbulent gas flow characteristics coupled with discrete particle dynamics are carried out in the context of 3D printing using a low-pressure cold spray system. Two different de Laval nozzles viz., smooth and staircase nozzles are used to understand its influence on the resulting gas and particle impact dynamics. It is inferred that the smooth nozzle delivers better gas dynamics than a staircase nozzle, which is attributed to the resulting higher and a more uniform gas velocity inside the smooth nozzle system. As a result, the resulting particle impact dynamics is found to be better than that of the staircase nozzle system. It is inferred that the particle deposition may be much denser and hence less porous in the case of smooth nozzle with an optimum substrate standoff distance of 30 mm downstream of the nozzle exit.