International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

In this study, we present the key results of computer modeling and experimental series of a combined technological process that integrates hydro-vacuum atomization and hydrogenation of metallic melts. The simulations considered several representative cases in which lead, aluminum, magnesium, Armco iron, and magnesium–aluminum alloys were used as initial materials. A comparative analysis of the obtained data revealed that, during hydro-vacuum atomization, the cooling, solidification, and hydrogenation kinetics of atomized droplets are strongly governed by the specific thermodynamic characteristics of the metals, such as the solidification interval, latent heat of fusion/solidification, and specific heat capacity. It was established that the relationship between the melt overheating temperature and the width of its solidification interval constitutes a key controlling factor in the combined processes of atomization and hydrogenation. This factor is critical because it determines both the duration and the nature of the residence of atomized metallic droplets in the transitional liquid–crystalline state, thereby defining the temporal window and the depth of highly effective physico-technological influences that promote hydrogen uptake. These influences arise during the entrainment and breakup of the melt jet in the water stream and include hydromechanical activation, structural metastabilization, and interstitial hydrogen incorporation released from collapsing cavitation cavities in water due to the thermobaric energy generated during their directed cumulative implosion.