Modeling and simulation of the gas-atomization process of metal melts for metal-matrix-composite production

Metallic particles containing ceramic particulates are defined as metal matrix composite (MMC) particles which are used, e. g., in powder processes to generate composite parts as well as in thermal spray coating applications. The preparation of MMC particles can be achieved through mixing ceramic particles (several micrometers) and atomized metallic droplets (several hundred micrometers) in a spray atomization and co-injection process. Here the ceramic particles are likely to be incorporated into the matrix droplets during frequent impingements. In the present work, multi-scale descriptions of particle-droplet interactions in spray processing of MMC particles are realized mainly based on Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics (M-CFD) models. Thereby processes as liquid atomization and particle-droplet mixing spray (macro-scale), particle-droplet collision (meso-scale), and particle penetration into droplet (micro-scale) are taken into account. Optimum flow and spray configurations for maximum MMC-production efficiency are derived based on integral process modeling and simulation.