Abstract
Plasma spheroidization is a method by which originally non-spherical or at least not optimally round powder particles are melted with plasma flame. Natural spheroidization occurs due to surface tension, which leads to better flowing powders used for example in AM purposes. A new commercial plasma spheroidization unit was installed and the feasibility of the unit was tested with different kind of powders, several metal and composite powder materials were studied. The goal was to find limits of powder flowability, melting point, feed rate etc. of the plasma unit. The test campaign resulted that very fine powder do not feed consistently to the plasma, which results uneven spheroidization result. The plasma power is not a limiting factor, on the contrary low melting materials need lowering of the power. In addition, high power plasma induces easily fine particles on the surfaces of the spheroidized powder particles, which must be washed away.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Euro PM 2018 Congress and Exhibition |
| Publisher | European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-8990-7250-7 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
| MoE publication type | A4 Article in a conference publication |
| Event | Euro PM2018 Congress & Exhibition - Bilbao, Spain Duration: 14 Oct 2018 → 18 Oct 2018 https://www.europm2018.com/ (Event site) https://www.epma.com/publications/euro-pm-proceedings/product/euro-pm2018-proceedings-usb (Proceedings) |
Conference
| Conference | Euro PM2018 Congress & Exhibition |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Spain |
| City | Bilbao |
| Period | 14/10/18 → 18/10/18 |
| Internet address |