SPH modeling of adhesion in fast dynamics: Application to the Cold Spray process

The objective of this paper is to show, in a specific case, the importance of modeling adhesive forces when simulating the bouncing of very small particles impacting a substrate at high speed. The implementation of this model into a fast-dynamics SPH code is described. Taking the example of an impacted elastic cylinder, we show that the adhesive forces, which are surface forces, play a significant role only if the particles are sufficiently small. The effect of the choice of the type of interaction law in the cohesive zone is studied and some conclusions on the relevance of the modeling of the adhesive forces for fast-dynamics impacts are drawn. Then, the adhesion model is used to simulate the Cold Spray process. An aluminum particle is projected against a substrate made of the same material at a velocity ranging from 200 to 1000m⋅s−1. We study the effects of the various modeling assumptions on the final result: bouncing or sticking. Increasingly complex models are considered. At a 200m⋅s−1 impact velocity, elastic behavior is assumed, the substrate being simply supported at its base and supplied with absorbing boundaries. The same absorbing boundaries are also used for all the other simulations. Then, plasticity is introduced and the impact velocity is increased up to 1000m⋅s−1. At the highest velocities, the resulting strains are very significant. The calculations show that if the adhesion model is appropriately chosen, it is possible to reproduce the experimental observations: the particles stick to the substrate in a range of impact velocities surrounded by two velocity ranges in which the particles bounce.