Numerical and experimental investigation of molten metal droplet deposition applied to rapid prototyping

Rapid prototyping based on molten metal droplets deposition is an additive process in which parts are produced from molten materials in a single operation without the use of any mold or other tooling. Near-net shaped parts are fabricated by sequentially depositing molten droplets layer by layer. This paper presents a systematic numerical and experimental investigation of the transient transport phenomenon during the droplets impinging onto a substrate surface. The 3D models based on a volume of fluid (VOF) method were developed to investigate the deposition of molten metal droplets on a horizontally aluminum substrate surface. Based on the above research, a semiquantitative relationship between external morphology and internal microstructure was proposed, which was further certified by investigating the piled vertical columns and the three-dimensional parts. The works should be helpful for the process optimization and non-destructive detection of drop-based rapid prototyping techniques.