J. P. Bergmann, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Ilmenau, Germany

Summary: Arc Spraying represents an excellent technology for coating of large areas for corrosion and wear protection. Advantages of the arc spraying process are the low running costs, the high spray rate and the high efficiency. The set of electrically conductive wires and the lower particle velocity in comparison to other spray processes as HVOF or APS are only some disadvantages of arc spraying. Process optimisation in order to reduce oxidation during the arc spraying process and in order to increase the process efficiency can be performed by influencing the melting behaviour of the particle material and the flow of atomizer and shroud gas. Experimental investigation for improvement of the arc spaying is usually carried out, whereas a high experimentally effort is necessary in order to point out precise information about process details, e.g. the atomising and the flow of the material. With modelling arc spraying, the influence of process variations on the process details can be determined, which allows to modify the process management with a minor experimental effort. In this paper, a model of the arc spraying process with consideration of the flow of the atomising gas and the melting behaviour of the coating material is presented. Simulation studies show the influence of geometry of the atomising nozzle on the flow of the shroud and atomising gas. A comparison with experimental studies confirm the simulation results