| An extensive computational investigation of the main variables that control overspray capturing performance in automobile assembly-plant spray booths was conducted. The potential of using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a evaluation and prediction tool was demonstrated by means of a 2-D feasibility study. 3-D numerical models of two different commercial painting booth configurations—such as those currently in use in automotive assembly plants worldwide—were developed and their results compared with small-scale and full-scale experiments as well as with plant-site measurements and observations. To predict the behavior of inertial paint particles interacting with the airflow, an accurate Lagrangian particle tracing code was built. With the assistance of this code, the main overspray capturing mechanisms were identified and discussed, and the computed capturing performance compared with plant-site measurements. Despite employing simplified models of the process, CFD proved to be capable of not only reproducing the structure of the flow observed in experiments but also accurately predicting the most important features of the overspray capturing phenomena inside the two commercial painting booths considered. |
