Recent Developments in the Research of Splat Formation Process in Thermal Spraying

Thermal spraying is a well-established surface modification technology which has been widely used in industrial applications. As the coating properties were mainly determined by the flattening nature of each splat, much attention has been increasingly paid to the study on the splat formation process of thermal sprayed particles. This paper is concerned with the development in the research of the splat formation process of the individual splat deposited by thermal spraying during the past few decades, including the experimental and numerical simulations up to today; some classical splashing models were also reviewed. As a simulation of the actual thermal spray process, the development of the flattening behavior of free falling droplet has been mentioned as well. On the basis of the current investigation, some recommendations for the future work have been advised.