THERMAL PLASMA TREATMENT OF TITANIUM CARBIDE POWDERS .1. NUMERICAL-ANALYSIS OF POWDER BEHAVIOR IN ARGON-HYDROGEN AND ARGON-NITROGEN RADIO-FREQUENCY PLASMAS

Modeling of TiC powder behavior in Ar-H-2 and Ar-N-2 RF thermal plasma s has been performed as well as the numerical analysis of the plasma f ields to investigate the plasma/powders interaction. The heat transfer rate from the plasma to the powders decreases with increasing the pow der feed rate and with decreasing the plasma pressure, because of the significant local cooling owing to the presence of the injected powder s. These results agree fairly well with the experimental results of ou r following paper. The modeling herein gives guidance for the rational design of new material processing using thermal plasmas.