Abstract
Computer simulations of thermal spray coating processes can accelerate the development of new products by minimizing the need for prototypes. An important aim of these simulations is the calculation of the coating distribution on the surface of a given workpiece with respect to a given movement path of the spray gun. In this paper, a novel approach for computing coating distribution on arbitrarily complex freeform surfaces is presented. In contrast to approaches that implement symmetric deposition models, the presented concept is based on a rotationally asymmetric model, making it particularly well suited for wire arc spraying as turbulences caused by electrodes in the gas flow often result in asymmetric coating distributions. In order to obtain the required knowledge base to derive the deposition model and verify the simulation, basic experiments were made. The simulation concept and experimental setup are presented in the paper along with the results.
