Research progress of close-coupled gas atomization based on image and numerical simulation
XU Xiaolin1，2，LU Lin2，WU Wenheng2
（1. School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Shanghai Polytechnic University , Shanghai 201209,
China; 2. Shanghai Engineering Research Center of 3D Printing Materials, Shanghai Research Institute of
Materials, Shanghai 200437, China）
Abstract：Close-coupled gas atomization (CCGA) has become one of the mainstream technologies for the pro‐
duction of metal powders for additive manufacturing, with advantages such as high atomization efficiency, good
powder sphericity and low overall production costs. In order to further improve the atomization efficiency of
close-coupled atomization and enhance the yield of fine powder, thus promoting the rapid development of the ad‐
ditive manufacturing industry, the study of close-coupled atomization has become one of the research hotspots in
the field of metal powder production. In recent years, researchers have begun to use high-speed photography and
particle image velocimetry to visualize the details of melt fragmentation during atomization and to provide experimental validation of the results obtained from numerical simulations, further revealing the atomization flow
field mechanism. At the same time, with the rapid development of computer computing power and theoretical
models for different stages of powder forming, the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numeri‐
cal simulation techniques to the study of atomization has received widespread attention, and the results obtained
by researchers on the structure of the gas flow field and powder particle size distribution have greatly contributed
to the understanding of the mechanism of atomization. High-speed photographic techniques and numerical simula‐
tions complement each other and provide very reliable theoretical guidance for improving atomization efficiency
in practical atomized production. This paper briefly describes the progress of research on close-coupled atomiza‐
tion based on image observation and numerical simulation, induces the application of the two methods in the
study of gas flow field structure and atomization mechanism, and summarizes the progress of the two methods in
guiding the optimization of atomization process parameters and the design of atomizer structure parameters.
2023, Vol. 33 
