Prediction of thermal history of preforms produced by the clean metal spray forming process

The clean metal spray forming (CMSF) process provides premium quality material for high performance aircraft engine components. In this process, ‘clean’ metal (metal free of oxides and other inclusions) is atomized via a scanning open atomizer and the resultant spray is collected as a solid billet preform. Under a program jointly funded by industry and the US Government, process models have been developed for the different stages of CMSF. The present paper focuses on models for the spray and deposition processes. The axisymmetric spray model has been benchmarked with experimental measurements of particle size distribution and mass distribution. It provides the input for the deposition model. A unique approach is used to make the deposition model both accurate and efficient. The models are discussed in detail and typical results presented.