Vibration of an atomising disc subjected to a growing distributed mass

Centrifugal atomisation using a spinning disc is an effective means of producing high quality metal powder. The atomising disc frequently experiences severe vibration and produces noise. The vibration adversely affects the production of metal powder. This paper presents the first study of the dynamics of atomising discs. The disc is modelled as a plate under the excitation of a growing mass, which represents the metal stream flowing down to and spreading out on the disc. The influence of the rotating speed of the disc and the growing mass on the dynamics of the disc is investigated. It is found that the disc vibration is non-stationary with multiple frequencies that vary with time and its magnitude increases with mass flow rate of the model metal and decreases with the disc speed. One interesting finding is that the disc vibration grows like flutter in the period before the metal flow on the disc becomes steady, due to the radially growing mass.