Speaker
Description
Metal alloy development is key in current advanced technology development. At the same time, advanced manufacturing is a new trend and involves many technologies that can be usefull in converting developed alloys into final products. Additive manufacturing is key in production of intricate structures which are rather difficult or impossible to cast using conventional methods. This may be due to alloy thermal and mechanical properties: Alloys with high hardness and high strength may be difficult or hard to craft or formulate while those with high melting temperature could also be difficult to cast as they require high melting temperature furnaces and complicated casting methods. These kinds of materials may not necessarily be used where intricate shapes are required such as in jewellery, heat exchangers or where machining needs to be minimized yet complicated shapes with less material are required. This is where metal 3D printing as additive manufacturing technology comes on its own. The technology used combination of both machinery with high electronics, laser and human touch and eye for quality control, which directly link to 5th industrial revolution. Metal 3D printing technologies differ depending on the kind of printer used. One of those printers is the Laser Powder Bed Fusion Metal machine. The printer technology uses metal powder as a feedstock and laser to melt the powder layer by layer. Generally, the particle size distribution (PSD) of the powder feed is D50 = 63 µm and the powder should be highly spherical. Nonspherical and larger particles do not flow well when layered before laser melting and may cause less quality final print with inadequate packing density, highly porous structure as well as poor surface finish. To mitigate against all drawbacks on final product, a good method for metal powder production is essential. Because not only pure metals get printed, the methos should be able to alloy rather produce alloyed metal powder with good quality characteristics or properties. Water atomizers are one of the methods for powder production, but it will result in oxidized material. Gas atomizer is another method but requires high pressure inert gas and produces a wide range of particles sizes, thus yield of specific size fractions required for applications like LPBF can be low. Plasma atomization is another method; however, it is expensive technology and can produce powder particles with gas-trapped internal pores and the formation of smaller "satellite" particles that attach to the surface, which can hinder the powder's flowability. Ultrasonic atomization, while not perfect, can produce highly spherical powder with good PSD range. Alloys can be produced with good composition and used powder and scarp prints can be recycled back to use. In this presentation, we are going to show how ultrasonic atomization techniques have been used to produce highly spherical alloy powders, a good PSD range that is suitable for LPBF metal 3D printers. A good method for alloy development and mineral beneficiation.
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