Abstract

In order to predict droplet velocity and temperature profiles and fractional solidification with flight distance during spray forming, the Newtonian heat transfer formulation has been coupled with the classical heterogeneous nucleation and the specific solidification process. It has been demonstrated that the thermal profile of the droplet in flight is significantly affected by process parameters such as droplet size, initial gas velocity, undercooling. As the droplet size and/or the initial gas velocity increase, the onset and completion of solidification are shifted to greater flight distances and the solidification process also extends over a wider range of flight distances. The amounts of solid fractions formed during recoalescence, segregated solidification and eutectic solidification are insensitive to droplet size and initial gas velocity whereas those are strongly affected by the degree of undercooling. There are good linear relations between the undercooling and the corresponding solid fractions generated during recoalesced, segregated and eutectic stages.