Numerical investigation on flow process of liquid metals in melt delivery nozzle during gas atomization process for fine metal powder production

Based on volume of fluid(VoF)interface capturing method and shear-stress transport(SST)k-ω turbulence model,numerical simulation was performed to reveal the flow mechanism of metal melts in melt delivery nozzle(MDN)during gas atomization(GA)process.The experimental validation indicated that the numerical models could give a reasonable prediction on the melt flow process in the MDN.With the decrease of the MDN inner-diameter,the melt flow resistance increased for both molten aluminum and iron,especially achieving an order of 10^(2) kPa in the case of the MDN inner-diameter≤1 mm.Based on the conventional GA process,the positive pressure was imposed on the viscous aluminum alloy melt to overcome its flow resistance in the MDN,thus producing powders under different MDN inner-diameters.When the MDN inner-diameter was reduced from 4 to 2 mm,the yield of fine powder(<150μm)soared from 54.7%to 94.2%.The surface quality of powders has also been improved when using a smaller inner-diameter MDN.

Effects of Gas Flow Field on Clogging Phenomenon in Close-Coupled Vortical Loop Slit Gas Atomization

In order to study the basic characteristics of gas flow field in the atomizing chamber near the nozzle outlet of the vortical loop slit atomizer and its influence mechanism on clogging phenomenon,the computational fluid dynamics(CFD)software Fluent is used to conduct a numerical simulation of the gas flow field in the atomizing chamber near the nozzle outlet of this atomizer under different annular slit widths,different atomization gas pressures and different protrusion lengths of the melt delivery tube. The results show that under atomization gas pressure p=4.5 MPa,the greater the annular slit width D,the lower the static temperature near the central hole outlet at the front end of the melt delivery tube,and the smaller the aspirating pressure at the front end of the melt delivery tube. These features can effectively prevent the occurrence of the clogging phenomenon of metallic melt. Under an annular slit width of D=1.2 mm,when the atomization gas pressure satisfies 1 MPa ≤ p ≤ 2 MPa and increases gradually,the aspirating pressure at the front end of the melt delivery tube will decline rapidly. This can prevent the clogging phenomenon of metallic melt. However,when the atomization gas pressure p >2 MPa,the greater the atomization gas pressure,the lower the static temperature near the central hole outlet at the front end of the melt delivery tube,and the greater the aspirating pressure at the front end of the melt delivery tube. Hence,the effect of preventing the solidification-induced clogging phenomenon of metallic melt is restricted. When atomization gas pressure is p =4.5 MPa and annular slit width is D=1.2 mm,the greater the protrusion length H of the melt delivery tube,and the smaller the aspirating pressure at its front end. The static temperature near the central hole that can be observed in its front end is approximate to effectively prevent the occurrence of clogging phenomenon of metallic melt. However,because of the small aspirating pressure,the metallic melt flows into the atomizing chamber from the central hole at the front end of the melt delivery tube at an increasing speed and the gas-melt ratio in the mass flow rate is reduced,which is not conducive to the improvement of atomization performance.