Novel Cold Crucible Ultrasonic Atomization Powder Production Method for 3D Printing.

Łukasz Żrodowski,Jan S Wróbel,Marcin Leonowicz,Piotr Błyskun,Wojciech Łacisz,Mateusz Ostrysz,Cezary Żrodowski,Tomasz Choma,Rafał Wróblewski,Bartosz Morończyk,Grzegorz Cieślak,Bartłomiej Wysocki,Karolina Pomian

doi:10.3390/ma14102541

Abstract

A new powder production method has been developed to speed up the search for novel alloys for additive manufacturing. The technique involves an ultrasonically agitated cold crucible installed at the top of a 20 kHz ultrasonic sonotrode. The material is melted with an electric arc and undergoes pulverization with standing wave vibrations. Several different alloys in various forms, including noble and metallic glass alloys, were chosen to test the process. The atomized particles showed exceptional sphericity, while powder output suitable for additive manufacturing reached up to 60%. The AMZ4 metallic glass powder remained amorphous below the 50 μm fraction, while tungsten addition led to crystallization in each fraction. Minor contamination and high Mn and Zn evaporation, especially in the finest particles, was observed in atomized powders. The innovative ultrasonic atomization method appears as a promising tool for material scientists to develop powders with tailored chemical composition, size and structure.

Highlights

IntroductionAdditive manufacturing (AM) techniques such as Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) or electron beam melting (EBM) required powders with exceptional flowability [1] to ensure process repeatability and high density [2] of printed parts
Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques such as Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) or electron beam melting (EBM) required powders with exceptional flowability [1] to ensure process repeatability and high density [2] of printed parts. Such powders are produced via gas atomization [3]; due to the industrial scale of atomizers, the search for new alloys fine-tuned for AM is expensive and limits the number of compositions able to be tested [4]
We present a new, universal method of ultrasonic powder atomization with the use of various forms of feed material

Summary

Introduction

Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques such as Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) or electron beam melting (EBM) required powders with exceptional flowability [1] to ensure process repeatability and high density [2] of printed parts. Such powders are produced via gas atomization [3]; due to the industrial scale of atomizers, the search for new alloys fine-tuned for AM is expensive and limits the number of compositions able to be tested [4]. This method has been widely used for solders [14], the production of aluminum [15], zinc [16] and magnesium alloys [17]

Methods

Results

Conclusion