A CFD-DEM Simulation of Droplets in an Airless Spray Coating Process of a Square Duct

The purpose of this paper is to provide a numerical simulation, taking into account the collisional interactions of droplets in an airless rotary spray coating process. The hydrodynamics of gas and droplets are simulated using the CFD-discrete element method (DEM) with the JKR contact model in an ai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coatings (Basel) 2024-03, Vol.14 (3), p.282
Main Authors: Li, Xiang, Chen, Xing, Hong, Niancheng, Li, Qianzheng, Xu, Zenghui, Sheng, Ming, Wang, Rui
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accumulation
Air flow
Analysis
Coatings
Computational fluid dynamics
Corrosion
Discharge coefficient
Discrete element method
Droplets
Energy
Film thickness
Fluid dynamics
Hydraulics
Numerical analysis
Protective coatings
Reynolds number
Simulation
Simulation methods
Spray coating
Surface energy
Thickness measurement
Turbulence models
Velocity
Viscosity
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Summary:The purpose of this paper is to provide a numerical simulation, taking into account the collisional interactions of droplets in an airless rotary spray coating process. The hydrodynamics of gas and droplets are simulated using the CFD-discrete element method (DEM) with the JKR contact model in an airless rotary spray coating process of a horizontal square duct. The surface energy parameter used in the JKR model is calibrated using a virtual accumulation angle test in the funnel device. Based on the distribution of accumulation angles, a suitable surface energy for wall droplets is proposed. A rational gas RNG k-ε model is suggested in accordance with the comparisons of velocities, standard deviations, and the skewness of droplet number fractions from three turbulence models. The simulations of droplet film thicknesses agree with measurements from the literature regarding the film thickness along a vertical panel. The correlations of the exit gas and droplet velocities of sprayer holes are proposed with a discharge coefficient of 0.85 for gas and 5.87 for droplets. A number index of droplets is introduced in order to measure the uniformity of droplet distributions. A low droplet number index is found at low rotational speeds, representing a more uniform distribution of droplets as the rotation speeds reduce within the square duct. The normal force between the droplet and the wall is approximately an order of magnitude larger than the droplet–wall tangential force of collisions.
ISSN:2079-6412
2079-6412
DOI:10.3390/coatings14030282