Production and Characterization of Commercial Aluminum Powders by a New Nozzle Design and Atomization Unit

A large area cross section of the production of spherical metal powders by gas atomization in the manufacturing method. Powder metal characteristic improves with small powder size. This aim was realized by vertical gas atomization unit, a new a closely-matched nozzle system and manufacture. In the experimental studies, pure aluminium powders which has an important place in the automotive, air and defence industries were produced. In the studies carried out with the Vertical Gas Atomization unit, aluminium was superheated up to 900°C and atomized at different gas pressures (20-30 bar). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and particle size measuring device were used for the characterization and size measurements of the produced powders, respectively. The average particle size of the finest powder produced with increasing atomization pressure was determined as d50=19.50µm. Aluminium powder shape and morphology was used as spherical and very little satellization was seen. Keywords: Powder Metallurgy, Atomisation, Nozzle, Al powder, Characterisation

Microstructure Evolution of FeNiCoCrAl1.3Mo0.5 High Entropy Alloy during Powder Preparation, Laser Powder Bed Fusion, and Microplasma Spraying

In the present study, powder of FeCoCrNiMo0.5Al1.3 HEA was manufactured by gas atomization process, and then used for laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and microplasma spraying (MPS) technologies. The processes of phase composition and microstructure transformation during above mentioned processes and subsequent heat treatment were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and differential thermal analysis (DTA) methods. It was found that gas atomization leads to a formation of dendrites of body centered cubic (BCC) supersaturated solid solution with insignificant Mo-rich segregations on the peripheries of the dendrites. Annealing leads to an increase of element segregations till to decomposition of the BCC solid solution and formation of σ-phase and B2 phase. Microstructure and phase composition of L-PBF sample are very similar to those of the powder. The MPS coating has a little fraction of face centered cubic (FCC) phase because of Al oxidation during spraying and formation of regions depleted in Al, in which FCC structure becomes more stable. Maximum hardness (950 HV) is achieved in the powder and L-PBF samples after annealing at 600 °C. Elastic modulus of the L-PBF sample, determined by nanoindentation, is 165 GPa, that is 12% lower than that of the cast alloy (186 GPa).

Investigation of Mechanical and Magnetic Properties of Co-Based Amorphous Powders Obtained by Atomization

Properties of Co-based alloys with high Glass Forming Ability (GFA) in the form of powder are still not widely known. However, powders of high GFA alloys are often used for the development of bulk metallic glasses by additive manufacturing. In this work Co47.6B21.9Fe20.4Si5.1Nb5% at. and Co42B26.5Fe20Ta5.5Si5Cu1% at. were developed by gas-atomization. Obtained powders in size 50–80 µm were annealed at Tg and Tx of each alloy. Then SEM observation, EDS analyses, differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, nanoindentation, Mössbauer, and magnetic properties research was carried out for as-atomized and annealed states. The gas atomization method proved to be an efficient method for manufacturing Co-based metallic glasses. The obtained powder particles were spherical and chemically homogeneous. Annealing resulted in an increase of mechanical properties such as hardness and the elastic module of Co47.6B21.9Fe20.4Si5.1Nb5% at and Co42B26.5Fe20Ta5.5Si5Cu1%, which was caused by crystallization. The magnetic study shows that Co47.6B21.9Fe20.4Si5.1Nb5 and Co42B26.5Fe20Ta5.5Si5Cu1 are soft magnetic and semi-hard magnetic materials, respectively.

Multi-physics coupling simulation of electrode induction melting gas atomization for advanced titanium alloys powder preparation

A numerical modeling method is proposed for the melting process of Titanium metals of Titanium alloys powder preparation used for 3D printing. The melting process simulation, which involves the tight coupling between electromagnetic field, thermal field and fluid flow as well as deformation associated during the melting process, is conducted by adopting the finite element method. A two-way coupling strategy is used to include the interactions between these fields by incorporating the material properties dependent on temperature and the coupling terms. In addition, heat radiation and phase change are also considered in this paper. The arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation is exploited to model the deformation of Titanium metal during the melting process. The distribution of electromagnetic flux density, eddy current density, temperature, and fluid flow velocity at different time can be determined by utilizing this numerical method. In a word, the method proposed in this paper provides a general way to predict the melting process of electrode induction melting gas atomization (EIGA) dynamically, and it also could be used as a reference for the design and optimization of EIGA.

Production of magnets from the material of Fe - Cr - Co system by selective laser sintering

The article presents results of the study of possibilities of selective laser melting (SLM), or so-called additive technologies, for production of permanent magnets. This process makes it possible to produce not only product models and prototypes, but also finished functional products using layer-by-layer addition of material and binding of particles and layers to each other. An alloy based on Fe - Cr - Co system has been chosen as the material for evaluation of the compared technologies for permanent magnets production. The application fields of selective laser melting (SLM/SLP) were considered. The powders obtained by different methods are taken for the research. Classical technology of magnetic alloy casting also was analyzed. The studies of magnetic materials and comparisons of the properties of powder magnets with standard data were carried out. On the basis of 25Kh15KA alloy powder sprayed by gas atomization, permanent magnets with a material density of 7.59 - 7.55 g/cm3 can be manufactured at the SLP plant. They meet the requirements recommended by the state standard GOST 24897 - 81, and achieve characteristics of magnets made by classical metallurgical technologies. To study the magnetic and physical properties, four samples were produced with the same geometry in the shape of a cube. During production of each of the test samples, different operating modes of the plant were selected. Samples were made on the basis of the “Kurchatov Institute” NRS enterprise (the “Prometheus” Central Research Institute of Construction Materials) as part of the NIO-35 technological complex. It was established that characteristics of the powders obtained by gas atomization qualitatively exceed characteristics of the powders obtained by other methods, and the produced magnets meet all the requirements for magnets.

INFLUENCE OF METAL POWDER PRODUCTION METHOD ON MICROSTRUCTURE AND FLUIDITY OF MAGNETICALLY ALLOY GRANULATE

A comparison is made of the characteristics of metal powders of a hard magnetic alloy produced by centrifugal spraying and gas atomization. Comparative studies of particle morphology and particle size distribution of powders are presented in order to determine them.