A Fuel Atomization Primer

If you're looking for consistent high quality titanium powder to your additive manufacturing course of, the difficulty may not be with the powder itself, however with the method used to produce it.


In our collection, "A Clear Ti," we'll look at key sources of contamination for titanium and different pre-alloyed, fuel atomized, spherical powders. Make no mistake: clear issues. Cross-contamination disrupts elements production in two key methods:


1. Efficiency - If a component is going to fail it will at all times be at the point the place contamination is present.
2. Process Predictability - Even more importantly, suppliers should anticipate and alleviate contamination at the source or dtf printer the powder provide can turn out to be unpredictable which may cost you time and money, and potentially customers.


The first step in understanding powder contamination risks is knowing the process used to supply it. We've made it as simple as potential in this brief primer.

4 Steps in Fuel Atomization

Gasoline atomization is a robust know-how for creating pure, free-flowing, pre-alloyed metal powder particles including titanium powders. First, the uncooked materials is prepared for atomization in a plasma arc melter. This unit melts the powder into lengthy bars or electrodes so they are often fed into the atomizer.


The electrode is positioned within the atomizer and heated till molten metallic drips off the top of the electrode till all but the top of the electrode is consumed. Because the molten metallic drips into the atomizer tower it's met by a stream of excessive-strain, inert gasoline, sometimes argon or nitrogen.


The collision breaks the stream into into spherical powder particles that solidify in flight. The particles have the same chemistry as the molten stream, therefore the time period pre-alloyed.

4 Advantages of Fuel Atomization

While it's important to understand and manage contamination risk so as to make sure consistent powder quality, fuel atomization offers some vital benefits over different pre-alloyed particle production:


1. Chemistry Control: Fuel atomization produces very pure powders that help extraordinarily tight chemistry tolerances. That means they are often personalized to fulfill stringent software necessities. 2. Powder Morphology: Gas atomized powders are spherically formed. 3. Vast Particle Measurement Distribution (PSD): A wide PSD permits for prime packing density, which maximizes the quantity of powder in a given volume. Because they are free flowing they are ideal for additive manufacturing purposes the place powder move is important. 4. Extremely Versatile Capability: Fuel atomizers can produce just a few pounds to several tons in a single heat with equal ease.

Want to learn more gasoline atomization? Take a look at our infographic and obtain our whitepaper.