Abstract:
Experimental investigations, coupled with numerical simulations, reported in the literature have documented the effect of particle size quite systematically. However, similar systematic studies on the role of
particle morphology are lacking in the literature, although numerous experiments suggest a qualitative
dependence of the coating process on the morphology. In this paper, we attempt to address the lacunae by
comparing the deformation behavior and critical velocity by systematically varying the particle morphology and size. We have considered two different shapes, viz., spherical particles (where the size has been
varied) and conical particles (where the morphology has been varied as a function of the apical angle, in
addition to varying the size). Equi-volume comparison between the spherical particles and conical particles
with different morphologies allow us to establish quantitative dependence of deformation characteristics
and critical velocity on the particle morphology. We demonstrate that the vertices in conical shapes are
regions of high stress concentration and deform preferentially; furthermore, the larger the apical angle the
more closely does the deformation behavior of the conical particles resemble the sphere. Therefore, a
knowledge of the distribution of particle size and morphology is expected to help tune and optimize the
processing conditions.
