Flow characteristics and micro-scale metallic particle formation in the laser supersonic heating technique

The characteristics of the supersonic flow of the laser heating technique for producing micro-scale metallic particles were investigated in this study. A numerical model was established to predict the flow fields and particle trajectories leaving a spray nozzle with shock wave effects. The compressible flow of the shock waves and the trajectories of particles in diameters of 1–20 μm were simulated and compared with the flow visualization. In the experiment, a pulsed Nd-YAG laser was used as heat source on a carbon steel target within the nozzle, and the carbon steel particles were ejected by high-pressure air. The result shows that the shock wave structures were generated at various entrance pressures, and there is a significant increase in the amount of carbon steel particles and the spraying angles by increasing the entrance air pressure.