For the solutions of random variations of metal jet breakup and difficulties in controlling and predicting the process parameters （e.g. jet length） in micro droplet deposition manufacturing technique, experimental methods combining with theoretical analyses have been developed. The jet formation, jet length and their dominant factors （oxygen concentration and disturbance frequency, etc.） are discussed. The statistical law of jet length is found that the probability density function （PDF） of jet length is a log-normal distribution. The results show that the formation and size accuracy of metal jet breakup are improved by adjusting the gas pressure and optimizing the disturbance frequency. Under this circumstance, the jet length and morphological deviation can be minimized, which provides a stable droplet stream for the subsequent manufacturing process.
针对液滴喷射增材制造试验参数调整困难、实施难度较大的现存问题,基于流体体积(Volume of fluid,VOF)两相流模型,建立均匀液滴喷射过程流场的计算模型。采用数值模拟的方法,对液滴喷射过程中的液滴流形态、压力场和速度场及其影响因素进行了研究,揭示了形成均匀液滴流的内在变化规律,得到了均匀液滴喷射过程的最优频率。在模拟结果的基础上,建立了液滴喷射装置并配置了相应的高速拍照系统,对射流断裂形态、喷射过程、喷射速度进行了试验研究。结果表明,射流速度主要取决于喷射压强,液滴流均匀性主要取决于扰动频率和扰动振幅,射流的压力场则呈周期性变化。模拟结果与试验结果吻合较好,说明所提出的建模方法是可行的,为不同情况下射流内部流场的计算提供了实用的方法,也为液滴喷射增材制造技术的应用奠定了理论基础。
In order to characterize the mechanics of jet breakup, the finite volume formulations were employed to solve the Navier-Stokes equations and continuity equation of jet. The volume of fluid(VOF) method was used to track the free surface of jet. The spray process of the molten Pb63Sn37 alloy was simulated based on the mathematical model by means of FLUENT code. The configuration of jets generated in different disturbance ratios and modulation ratios was obtained. The theoretical results show that the droplets merge together by the number of disturbance ratio N, which agrees with the corresponding picture captured in the experiment. In addition, the droplet streams broken at non-optimal frequency are also uniform according to simulation results, which proves that the A-M disturbance can increase the width of the uniform droplet generating frequency.
