Improvement of Plasma Gun Performance Using Comprehensive Fluid Element Modeling II

Use of a comprehensive validated computer model of a thermal spray process enables an ability to improve, optimize, and fine-tune the performance of that thermal spray process. A validated model of the Sulzer Metco TriplexPro™ 200 plasma gun has been used to improve the performance of the actual gun in terms of enhancing gas flow dynamics, thermal management, and overall performance in terms of a robust design. Internal changes to the gun geometry using the model have extended the life of the hardware. In addition the model has permitted the investigation of the fundamental operation of the gun, specific to the behavior and path of the arcs, as well as the ability to operate the plasma gun, under simulation, in operating regimes that currently cannot be supported by the physical hardware. The model has been run at gas pressures above 1.4 Mpa and/or voltages above 300 V that currently cannot be obtained with the physical hardware due to equipment limitations to evaluate the potential to extend the operating window of the Sulzer Metco TriplexPro™ 200 gun beyond current levels in terms of particle velocity and temperature. The end result is an improved process tool for applying thermal spray coatings ranging from ceramics applied at high particle temperature and low particle velocities to carbides and alloys applied at lower temperatures and higher velocities. This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the 2007 International Thermal Spray Conference and has been expanded from the original presentation. It is simultaneously published in Global Coating Solutions, Proceedings of the 2007 International Thermal Spray Conference, Beijing, China, May 14-16, 2007, Basil R. Marple, Margaret M. Hyland, Yuk-Chiu Lau, Chang-Jiu Li, Rogerio S. Lima, and Ghislain Montavon, Ed., ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 2007.