文摘
Cold spray (CS) is attracting interest of research and industry due to its rapid, solid-state particle deposition process and respective advantages over conventional deposition technologies. The acceleration of the particles is critical to the efficiency of CS, and previous investigations rarely consider the particle feed rate. However, because higher particle loadings are typically used in the process, the effect of this cannot be assumed negligible. This study therefore investigates the particle velocities in the supersonic jet of an advanced CS system at low- and high pressure levels and varying particle feed rates using particle image velocimetry. The particle dispersion and velocity evolution along the jet axis were investigated for several feedstock materials. It was found that the average particle velocity noticeably decreases with increasing particulate loading in all cases. The velocity distribution and particle dispersion were also observed to be influenced by the feed rate. Effects are driven by both mass loading and volume fraction, depending on the feedstock’s particle velocity parameter. Increased particle feed rates hence affect the magnitude and distribution of impact velocity and consequently the efficiency of CS. In particular, numerical models neglecting this interconnection are required to be further improved, based on these experimental studies.