In this study, the critical, maximum and optimum velocity of a single cold sprayed (CS) particle is estimated using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method by evaluating the impact shape coefficient of restitution, as well as the rebound and deposit energy ratio. The contact surfaces of the particle and the substrate are modelled as intersurface forces using the Dugdale–Barenblatt cohesive zone model. The application of SPH allows the simulation of the CS process without the use of mesh, thereby avoiding the disadvantages of the traditional numerical method in handling large deformations and tracing moving interfaces. The impact of CS particles is simulated using various powder and substrate materials. The influence of the materials on the optimum velocity and the coating quality is discussed. The reliability of the model is verified with CS experiments.

The smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is applied to simulate the cold spray (CS) process by modeling the impact of a spherical powder particle on substrate.In this work, the adhesive interaction between the contacting surfaces is described by intersurface forces using the cohesive zone model. The application of the SPH method permits simulation of the impact process without the use of mesh and thus avoids the disadvantages of traditional numerical method in handling large deformations and tracing moving interfaces in the highly transient non-linear dynamic CS process. The simulated deformed particle shape evolution and estimated critical velocity from other sources were compared and good agreement was obtained. The analyses demonstrate the feasibility of the presented SPH methodology and the adhesive interaction model for simulating the deformation behavior of CS particles