Abstract: The numerical models of temperature and flight velocity of atomized droplets for high velocity arc spray (HVAS) process are established with dual-phase hydrodynamics and aerodynamics. The processing parameters, such as wire diameter, wire feed velocity, electric current, voltage, atomized gas pressure, etc, are correlated with the temperature, size distribution and flight velocity of atomized droplets. The established numerical simulation models reveal the influence of the HVAS processing parameters on the characteristic of atomized droplets. The numerical simulation results show that the flight velocity of the atomized 3Cr13 stainless steel droplets changes slightly during the practical spraying distance. The size of droplets has great effect on the original temperature. The superheats of different droplets size vary from 1 320 K to 2 090 K. The electrical resistance item has the highest effect on the superheat. The mass loss of the sprayed material during the arc spray processing is mainly due to the strong overheating of the droplets. The numerical simulation results go well with the measured results. The numerical simulated mass average size of HVAS sprayed 3Cr13 stainless steel is matched with that of the measured, while both of them have different features of size distribution.

Key words: Flight velocity, High velocity arc spray, Numerical simulation, Temperature of droplet