A simplified model for gas atomization

A simplified model describing the cooling behaviour and the solidification of undercooled droplets in gas atomization has been developed. The resulting computer code can predict the cooling behaviour both in the liquid and in the solid state for any powder size. The droplet velocity in the collecting chamber as well as its temperature, solid fraction and cooling rate can be predicted as a function of the characteristics of the processed alloy, the superheating of the melt, the atomizing gas, its velocity at the nozzles and the droplet diameter. The model overcomes the problem of the undetermined value of the undercooling and evaluates the effects of the simplified approach.