Numerical Study of Suspension HVOF Spray and Particle Behavior Near Flat and Cylindrical Substrates

In thermal spray processes, it is demonstrated that substrate shape and location have significant effects on particle in-flight behavior and coatings quality. In the present work, the suspension high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spraying process is modeled using a three-dimensional two-way coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian approach. Flat and cylindrical substrates are placed at different standoff distances, and particles characteristics near the substrates and upon impact are studied. Suspension is a mixture of ethanol, ethylene glycol, and mullite solid powder (3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂) in this study. Suspension droplets with predefined size distribution are injected into the combustion chamber, and the droplet breakup phenomenon is simulated using Taylor analogy breakup model. Furthermore, the eddy dissipation model is used to model the premixed combustion of oxygen–propylene, and non-premixed combustion of oxygen–ethanol and oxygen–ethylene glycol. To simulate the gas phase turbulence, the realizable k–ε model is applied. In addition, as soon as the breakup and combustion phenomena are completed, the solid/molten mullite particles are tracked through the domain. It is shown that as the standoff distance increases the particle temperature and velocity decrease and the particle trajectory deviation becomes more significant. The effect of stagnation region on the particle velocity and temperature is also discussed in detail. The catch rate, which is defined as the ratio of the mass of landed particles to injected particles, is calculated for different substrate shapes and standoff distances in this study. The numerical results presented here is consistent with the experimental data in the literature for the same operating conditions.