To achieve optimum flow characteristics and high packing density, an ideal Additive Manufacturing (AM) metal powder should be highly spherical in shape with no satellites. As spherical particles have minimum surface area to volume ratio this brings an added advantage in principle, of reduced surface contamination e.g. oxygen pick up. Increased particle sphericity can improve powder feeding, resulting in smoother layers, improved packing density, increased heat conduction in the powder bed and an enhanced melting profile.

Generating a component by AM, also known as metal 3D Printing, relies on building the final design through a series of many thousands of layers. Whilst different metal powders can be selected according to the required performance of the final part, reproducible behavior of the powder throughout the process is key to a successful build.

In principle, any metallic powder can be plasma treated to improve the flow and packing properties of low sphericity,irregular, sponge-like, agglomerated and angular metallic powders produced by other methods e.g. water atomization,chemical and mechanical processes, and standard gas-atomization.

Several trials have been performed for each powder feedstock to determine the optimum processing parameters.The powder samples were fully characterized after each plasma treatment trial and compared with those of thestarting feedstock.

The results demonstrate that when spheroidization parameters are optimized for the particular feedstock, particlemorphology, powder flow and packing properties are significantly improved.

Morphology and packing density have a significant effect on the quality of the powder layer and melting behavior, depending on deposition system.  Plasma Spheroidization has been shown to be an effective method of controlling the shape, flow and packing characteristics to defined specifications across a range of metallic powders to deliver reliable, reproducible performance.

We have a wealth of expertise in metal AM, and extensive experience of working with leading companies within the aerospace, biomedical, and automotive industries.  We utilize this knowledge and the capabilities of plasma technology to provide solutions across a wide range of industries and AM platforms.