Atomization of metal and alloy powders: Processes, parameters, and properties

• Published in: AIChE journal 2023-11, Vol.69 (11)
• Main Authors: Soong, Shaun Zhang, Lai, Wing Lam, Kay Lup, Andrew Ng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alloy powders; Atomizing; Cooling rate; Feed rate; Flow rates; Fluid flow; Metals; Optimization; Porosity
• ISSN: 0001-1541; 1547-5905
• DOI: 10.1002/aic.18217

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been intensively studied over this decade due to the increasing demand of functional and precise materials in various industries. AM process leverages on the concept of layer by layer deposition or joining of a material at micro‐ or nano‐scale to produce the final products. As such, AM technology is widely used to manufacture products of complex geometries with high precision in a short time. As the quality and the performance of AM manufactured functional products depend on the quality and the cost of the atomized metal or alloy powder used, the use of powders of high size uniformity, high purity, high sphericity, high flowability, low cost, and no trapped gas bubble porosity is necessary. To this end, various metal production technologies were investigated and one of the popular technologies is atomization. This article reviewed the working principles of the various atomization technologies for the production of fine metal and alloy powders. The key atomization conditions discussed in this article include atomization type, material feed rate and temperature, atomizing fluid flow rate, type and temperature, cooling rate, and atomization pressure. In addition, several outlooks on the prospect and the optimization of atomization technologies were also discussed in this article.