Parametric thermal analysis of a single molten metal droplet as applied to layered manufacturing

• Main Authors: Hasan, Fawad, Pervaiz, Mughal, Mufti, Rizwan
• Format: Article
• Published: springerlink 2006
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://eprints.utp.edu.my/5882/1/Heat_%26_Masss_Transfer_Paper.pdf; http://eprints.utp.edu.my/5882/

In the present study a parametric thermal analysis of a single molten metal droplet deposited on a large substrate has been performed with application to various solid freeform fabrication (SFF) processes employing droplet-based deposition. Simulation is conducted to investigate the effect of droplet shape, substrate thermal properties, substrate size and thermal boundary conditions of substrate base on the cooling rate of the droplet and the substrate. It is found that droplet shape and substrate thermal properties have significant effect only on the solidification time, whereas the steady-state conditions vary significantly with all the process parameters studied.