Analysis of Porosities in Nickel-Based Superalloys Powders

Abstract

In this paper, we investigated the porosities and their formation mechanism in the nickel-base superalloy powders, which were prepared by electrode induction melting argon atomization and divided into four particle size ranges: d＜60μm, 60μm≤d＜120μm,120μm≤d＜180μm, and d≥180μm. Firstly, the distribution of porosities in the powder were observed by Zeiss electron microscope. Secondly, the number and size of porosities in different particle size range were counted. Finally, the formation mechanism of the porosity was analyzed in details. The results show that the porosities are mainly distributed at the edge and center of the powders, and the size increases with the increase of the powder size. the porosity varies from a few microns to dozens of microns. the biggest pore size in the powder is approximately 120μm.There are no obviously porosities found in powders when their diameters are less than 60μm. While the porosity appeared as the powder diameter is more than 60μm. In addition, the proportion of the powder with porosities also increases with increasing powder size. When powders size is more than 180μm, the proportion of the powder with porosities reached about 91%. In general, the formation of porosities in powders are mainly ascribed to two reasons. the first one is a portion of argon was enclosed by the metal films during the spheroidization; the second one is the metal droplets uneven shrinkage during the solidification.