Coupled Coating Formation Simulation in Thermal Spray processes using CFD and FEM

This paper deals with the simulation of coating formation in Thermal Spray processes. That means that impingement and flattening of molten metal- or ceramic particles with a diameter of about 50 microns on a rough surface have to be regarded. Virtually all recent coating formation simulations are based on Computational Fluid Dynamics and are accomplished by the Volume of Fluid method. The disadvantage here is that only the pure flattening process can be considered. In order to implicate the shrinking of the particles due to cooling down after solidification, which is responsible for the occurrence of pores and thermal stresses, a Finite Element calculation has to be done. Due to the fact that the time between two successive particle impacts at the same place is statistically greater than the solidification time of the first particle, the separate treatment of the two processes is possible.