Influence of temperature on the process of preparing homogenised magnesium-zinc alloy spherical powders using the relative vacuum method

Abstract

The production of magnesium-zinc (Mg-Zn) alloy spherical powders is complex and expensive. As they have extensive applications in a wide variety of fields including military manufacturing, aerospace, and biomedicine, there is an urgent need to explore new production processes for Mg-Zn alloy spherical powders. In this study, 5 wt% homogenised Mg-Zn alloy spherical powder was prepared using the relative vacuum method. The effects of the insulation time, maximum temperature, and heating rate on the morphology, size distribution, and particle size of the Mg-Zn alloy spherical powder were investigated. The results indicated that the insulation time had the greatest influence on the particle size of the spherical powder, whereas the maximum temperature and heating rate had significant impacts on the alloy composition. When the insulation time was 10 min the maximum temperature was 1150 °Cand the heating rate was 15 min, the prepared Mg-Zn alloy spherical powder exhibited a full morphology without satellite particles, uniform composition, narrow size distribution, and a volume median diameter (VMD) of 17.62 μm. The research findings provide a new production process for Mg-Zn alloy spherical powders and establish a foundation for studying the specific effects of temperature on the production of Mg-Zn alloy spherical powders using the relative vacuum method.