Effect of Powder Particle Size on the Properties and Microstructure of Ti(C,N)-Based Cermet

The influence of raw powder particle size on the properties and microstructures of Ti (C, N)-based cermets has been studied. The conclusions are as follows: The microstructures of cermets were composed of two kinds of grains, the one with black cores surrounded by obvious rim structures, and the other whose cores were white with unconspicuous rim structures and adhesive phase. In the cermet made from fine powders, the amount of grains with white cores was much more than that in cermet made from coarse powders. In addition, their properties were also much better.

Particle Size Distribution,Powder Agglomerates and Their Effects on Sinterability of Ultrafine Alumina Powders

An intensive study of the particle size distribution of four commercial ultrafine alumina powders to obtain information about the powder agglomeration and relate them to the compactibility and the sinterability has been made.

Effect of Particle Size and Distribution of Rapidly Quenching NdFeB Magnetic Powder on Magnetic Properties of Polymer-Bonded NdFeB Permanent Magnet

The effect of particle size and distribution of rapidly quenching NdFeB magnetic powder on the magnetic properties of polymerbonded NdFeB permanent magnet was studied. The results show that the particle size and the distribution of rapidly quenching NdFeB magnetic powder have significant effects on the magnetic properties of polymerbonded NdFeB permanent magnet. As long as the size and the distribution of rapidly quenching NdFeB powder are within the right range, high magnetic properties of polymerbonded NdFeB permanent magnet can be obtained. This is mainly because the rapidly quenching NdFeB magnetic powder has high hardness and is scaleshaped. The larger the size of rapidly quenching NdFeB particles is, the more difficult it is to obtain high density of bonded NdFeB magnet. However the structure will be destroyed if the size is too small. It results in the deterioration of magnetic properties. The mechanism is also discussed.

Effects of Particle Size and Content of Silicon Powder on Strength and Microstructure of Coked Al_2O_3-ZrO_2-C Refractories

Effects of particle size （A：d50 = 336. 9 μm, B：d50 =123.5μm, C： d50=19.5 μm, D： dso=2.21μm） and content （1 wt% , 3 wt% , 5 wt% , 7 wt% ） of silicon powder on cold crushing strength （CCS） , pore size distribution and microstructure of Al2O3 - ZrO2 - C refractories coked at high temperature had been investigated by means of mercury porosimeter, SEM, EDS, tic. The results indicated that particle size and content of silicon powder affected the cold crushing strength of coked specimens. It increased with the addition of silicon powder and its finer particle size. However, it decreased greatly when using too fine silicon powder. The particle size and content of silicon powder also impacted the phase evolution and microstructure of coked specimens, much more β-SiC whiskers constituted network structure and well distributed in specimens with reduction of their slenderness ratios when finer silicon powder was added, corresponding to that, the specimens＇ pore size distribution range became narrower with smaller pore diameter, but β-SiC whiskers were distributed sparsely and the specific pore volume of small pores increased when much finer powder was added. It was worthly mentioned that some nitride could form in specimens with addition of appropriate particle size and content of silicon powder.

Effect of Industrial Alumina Powder Particle Size on Preparation of Active α-Al_(2)O_(3) Micropowder

To study the effect of the particle size of industrial alumina powder on the properties of active alumina micropowder(α-Al_(2)O_(3) micropowder),the fine powders with the median diameter of 50,30,10,and 5 pm,respectively,were obtained by grinding industrial alumina powder(the median diameter of 80 pm),and the active alumina micropowders were prepared by firing the industrial alumina powders before and after grinding at 1320℃ for 5 h.The effect of the particle size of the industrial alumina powder on the microstructure and properties of the active alumina micropowder was researched.The results indicate that the initial particle size of the industrial alumina powder has a great influence on the grain morphology of the active alumina micropowder;when the median diameter is larger than 30 pm,the α-Al_(2)O_(3) grains show wormlike aggregates state after calcination and when it is around or less than 10 pm,the α-Al_(2)O_(3) are round,spherical and well dispersed grains with the particle size of 0.3-1.0 pm.With the initial particle size of the industrial alumina powder decreasing,the α-Al_(2)O_(3) phase transition rate increases and the true density gradually increases;moreover,the α-Al_(2)O_(3) powder shows better dispersity and flowability.

The Effects of Filler Contents and Particle Sizes on the Mechanical and End-Use Properties of Snail Shell Powder Filled Polypropylene

Polypropylene composites of snail shell powder were prepared at filler contents, 0 to 40 wt%. The particle sizes of the snail shell powder investigated were 0.150, 0.30, and 0.42 μm. Talc, of particle size, 0.150 μm was used as the reference filler. The polypropylene composites were prepared in an injection moulding machine and the resulting composites were extruded as sheets. Some mechanical and end-use properties of the prepared composites were determined. Results showed that the snail shell powder improved the tensile modulus, flexural strength, and impact strength of polypropylene and these properties increased with increases in the filler content and decreases in the filler particle size. The elongation at break of the composites was however observed to decrease with increases in the filler content, and particle size. The elongation at break of talc filled polypropylene was zero, an indication of the brittle nature of polypropylene composites of talc. The hardness, water sorption (24-hr) and specific gravity of the composites were found to increase with increases in the filler content, and decreases in the filler particle size. The level of water absorbed by snail shell powder composites of polypropylene is considerably higher than that of talc filled polypropylene. The flame retardant properties of the prepared composites were however found to decrease with increases in the filler content, and particle size. Generally, snail shell powder was found to show greater property improvement over talc in the prepared composites.

On-line non-intrusive particle size measurement of pulverised fuel through digital imaging

This paper presents the basic principles of particle size measurement and latest industrial results recorded using an innovative optical instrumentation system designed to measure the size distribution of particles in a pneumatic suspension.The system is non-intrusive and cost-effective.A low-cost CCD camera is used to capture images of the particulate flow field,which is illuminated by a low-cost pulsed laser sheet generator.The particle size distribution is then determined by processing the particle images through the use of novel processing algorithms.Experimental results obtained in the past on a small scale particle flow test rig have demonstrated that the system is capable of measuring the size distribution of pneumatically conveyed particles with an accuracy of a few percent.For the present paper results obtained when testing the system at a 4 MW industrial test facility are presented.Comparisons are made with both off-line reference data achieved through sieving and on-line laser diffraction data recorded using an intrusive,extractive,Malvern Instruments system.In general there is good agreement between results when considering the characteristics and limitations of the individual methodologies.The novel imaging system shows itself to be rugged,practical and useful under genuine industrial conditions.

Hydrothermal synthesis of boehmites with various particle sizes and transition to α-Al_2O_3 powders by calcination

Boehmite powders with various particle sizes have been prepared by hydrothermal method and the α-Al2O3 powders yielded after subsequent calcination have been studied. Dispersive crystalline boehmite powders of 30-100 nm, 0.4-0.6μm and 1μm in size were obtained respectively by changing the hydrothermal precursors and the pH value of hydrothermal slurry. Calcination of boehmite powders of 30-100 nm at 1250℃ for 1h resulted in the formation of single-phase α-Al2O3 , and the products consisted of vermicular particles. The boehmite powders of 0.4-0.6μm were also fully converted to α-Al2O3 at 1250℃, and the products consisted of plate-like particles with the same size of 0.4-0.6μm. The boehmite powders of 1μm calcined at 1350℃ for 2h were still composed of a little proportions of transition aluminas besides α-Al2O3, and the particles sintered severely. The reaction processes for the formation of crystalline boehmites under hydrothermal conditions and α-Al2O3 powders during calcination have been discussed.

Preparation of nanosized W/Cu composite powder by sol-gel technique

Cu(NO3)(2) and (NH4)(6)H(2)W(12)O(40)center dot 4H(2)O were used to prepare W/Cu nanosized composite powder by sol-gel technique. The influences of heat treatment process, pH value of the solution and the amount of an addition agent on particle size were investigated by DSC, XRD and TEM. The results show that, at a certain heat treatment temperature, the W/Cu nanoparticle size increases with the pH value or the amount of the addition agent increasing.

Effect of Slow Cooling in Reducing Pore Size in a Sintered Powder Metallurgical 6061Aluminium Alloy

The usage of powder metallurgy aluminium compacts in lieu of ferrous components in automotives helps to lower vehicle weight. The major drawback in the commercially available press sintered aluminium alloy is porosity which is mainly dependent on the powder metallurgical process parameters such as compaction pressure, sintering temperature and cooling rate after sintering. In this paper the effect of particle size and furnace controlled cooling after sintering on porosity level and micro hardness of an elemental 6061 aluminium alloy has been investigated. Aluminium particle sizes of 20 μm and 150 μm were used. The elemental 6061 aluminium alloy powders are warm compacted at 175 MPa. After sintering for about one hour at 600°C, the aluminium compacts were furnace cooled at the rate of 1°C /min to different temperatures of 500°C, 400°C, 300°C and 200?C. When the cooling temperature after sintering inside the furnace is effected at various temperatures from 600°C to 200°C, for a precipitate hardened aluminium compacts with aluminium particle size of 20 μm, the porosity level reduced by 26% and that for aluminium particle size of 150μm, the porosity level reduced by 23%. Marked improvement in micro hardness value is also observed correspondingly.

Densification simulation of compacted Al powders using multi-particle finite element method

The powder compaction simulations were performed to demonstrate deformation behavior of particles and estimate the effect of different punch speeds and particle diameters on the relative density of powder by a multi-particle finite element model(MPFEM). Individual particle discretized with a finite element mesh allows for a full description of the contact mechanics. In order to verify the reliability of compaction simulation by MPFEM, the compaction tests of porous aluminum with average particle size of 20 μm and 3 μm were performed at different ram speeds of 5, 15, 30 and 60 mm/min by MTS servo-hydraulic tester. The results show that the slow ram speed is of great advantage for powder densification in low compaction force due to sufficient particle rearrangement and compaction force increases with decrease in average particle size of aluminum.

Theoretical and experimental investigation of Ti alloy powder production using low-power plasma torches

This study was carried out to investigate the possibility of titanium alloy metal powder production using low-power plasma torches.An argon DC non-transferred arc plasma torch was designed,and numerical analysis was conducted to determine the plasma jet properties and wire temperature.The highest velocities inside the nozzle attachment were between 838 and 1178 m/s.The velocities of the jets at the apex were between 494 and 645 m/s for different gas flow rates.The studied plasma gas flow rates had no significant effect on the effective plasma jet length.It was shown that the plasma jet length can be estimated by numerical analysis using the temperature and velocity changes of the plasma jet over distance.It was observed that the powders produced were spherical without any satellites.As a result of this study,a plasma torch was developed and powder production was performed successfully by using relatively low torch power.

Aspects of the Powder in Metal Additive Manufacturing: A Review

The most widely used metal additive manufacturing processes utilize powder that is spread or fed onto a building platform. Although there are reviews of the literature on some aspects of the powder, many aspects have been under-reviewed or unreviewed. The present work is a review of the literature on these aspects. Articles published in the open literature through the end of February 2022 were collected by consulting highly regarded relevant bibliographic databases, such as Google Scholar and Science Direct. The aspects reviewed were emerging methods of powder production, methods used to improve the quality of a powder after production by a well-established method, influence of variables of well-established powder production methods on powder properties, influence of powder production method on powder properties, and influence of powder reuse on properties of powders of a wide collection of alloys. One key finding was that with regard to powder reuse, the only consistent finding is that it leads to increase in the oxygen content of the powder. Another key finding was that the literature on the aspects of the literature reviewed herein contains many shortcomings and gaps, which suggest potential areas for future research, such as techniques for optimization of process variables for a given combination of metal powder and powder production method and development of methods for production of powders of new/emerging metallic materials.

Synergistic impact mechanism of particle size and morphology in superalloy powders for additive manufacturing

The particle size and morphology of superalloy powders are crucial parameters that significantly influence the performance of additive manufacturing(AM)processes.This study investigates the effects of atomization pressure on these characteristics through a combination of computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulations and vacuum induction melting gas atomization(VIGA)experiments.The CFD simulations revealed that increasing the atomization pressure from 2.0 MPa to 3.5 MPa resulted in a rise in maximum gas velocity from 526 m/s to 537 m/s and a reduction in median particle size(D_(50))from 60.9μm to 37.5μm.Subsequent experiments demonstrated a decrease in D_(50)from 52.9μm to 35.6μm,and sphericity from 0.9432 to 0.9377,as pressure increased.The particle size results of the atomization experiments and numerical simulations show strong consistency,validating the accuracy of the numerical simulation results.The volume of hollow particles also increased slightly in specific size fractions.These results suggest that higher atomization pressures produce finer powders with lower sphericity,but also promote particle adhesion,reducing the overall refinement effect.This study provides insights into optimizing atomization conditions for the precise control of superalloy powders in AM.

Synthesis of High Purity SiC Powder for High-resistivity SiC Single Crystals Growth

High purity silicon carbide （SIC） powder was synthesized in-situ by chemical reaction between silicon and carbon powder. In order to ensure that the impurity concentration of the resulting SiC powder is suitable for high-resistivity SiC single crystal growth, the preparation technology of SiC powder is different from that of SiC ceramic. The influence of the shape and size of carbon particles on the morphology and phase composition of the obtained SiC powder were discussed. The phase composition and morphology of the products were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Raman microspectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the composition of resulting SiC by in-situ synthesis from Si/C mixture strongly depends on the nature of the carbon source, which corresponds to the particle size and shape, as well as the preparation temperature. In the experimental conditions, flake graphite is more suitable for the synthesis of SiC powder than activated carbon because of its relatively smaller particle size and flake shape, which make the conversion more complete. The major phase composition of the full conversion products is β-SiC, with traces of α-SiC. Glow discharge mass spectroscopy measurements indicated that SiC powder synthesized with this chemical reaction method can meet the purity demand for the growth of high-resistivity SiC single crystals.

Characterization of spherical AlSi10Mg powder produced by double-nozzle gas atomization using different parameters

A self-developed double-nozzle gas atomization technique was used to produce AlSi10Mg powder.Effects of delivery tube diameter,gas pressure,and melt superheat on powder characteristics were investigated.The concepts of bluntness and outgrowth were introduced to analyze powder sphericity and satellite index quantitatively.The results showed that the median diameters of all atomized powders ranged from 25 to 33μm.The highest yield rate(72.13%)of fine powder(<50μm)was obtained at a superheat of 350 K.The powder size decreased with increasing melt superheat but increased with increasing delivery tube diameter.Powders with bluntness values between 96%and 98%accounted for over 60%.The outgrowth values demonstrated that 70%-85%of all powders did not contain satellite particles,with few powders adhered two or three particles.Not only Al and Si phases were present but also a metastable Al9Si phase was detected.

High pressure EIGA preparation and 3D printing capability of Ti-6Al-4V powder

Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy powder was processed by electrode induction melting gas atomization(EIGA)at high gas pressure(5.5-7.0 MPa).The effects of atomizing gas pressure on the powder characteristics and the microstructure,along with the mechanical properties of the as-fabricated block by laser melting deposition(LMD),were investigated.The results indicate that the diameters of powders are distributed in a wide range of sizes from 1 to 400μm,and the median powder size(d50)decreases with increasing gas pressure.The powders with a size fraction of 100-150μm obtained at gas pressures of 6.0 and 6.5 MPa have better flowability.The oxygen content is consistent with the change trend of gas pressure within a low range of 0.06%-0.20%.Specimens fabricated by LMD are mainly composed ofα+βgrains with a fine lamellar Widmanstatten structures and have the ultimate tensile strength(UTS)and yield strength of approximately 1100 and 1000 MPa,respectively.Furthermore,the atomized powders have a favorable 3 D printing capability,and the mechanical properties of Ti-6 Al-4 V alloys manufactured by LMD typically exceed those of their cast or wrought counterparts.

Synthesis of nanocrystalline NiCrC alloy feedstock powders for thermal spraying by cryogenic ball milling

Nanocrystalline NiCrC alloy powders with a qualified particle size distribution for thermal spraying were synthesized using the cryogenic ball milling （cryomilling） method. The morphology, microstructure, size distribution, and phase transformation of the powders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, laser scattering for particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. After cryomilling for 20 h, the average grain size of the as-milled powders approached a constant value of 30 nm by XRD measurement. The average particle size slightly increased from 17.5 to 20.3 μm during the 20-h milling. About 90vol% of the powders satisfied the requirement for thermal spraying with the particle dimension of 10-50 μm, and most of the powders exhibited spherical morphology, which were expected to have good fluidity during thermal spraying. The Cr2O3 phase formed during the cryornilling process as revealed in the XRD spectra, which was expected to enhance the thermal stability of the as-milled powders during the followed thermal spraying or other heat treatment.

Numerical simulation of powder effect on solidification in directed energy deposition additive manufacturing

An integrated simulation of powder effects on particle temperature and microstructural evolution in laser directed energy deposition additive manufacturing process was carried out.The spatial distribution of the flying powder particles was simulated by the discrete element method to calculate the energy for the flying powder particles under the laser−particle interaction with electromagnetic wave analysis.Combined with the phase field method,the influence of particle size on the microstructural evolution was studied.The microstructural evolution is validated through comparison with experimental observation.Results indicate that the narrow particle size distribution is beneficial to obtaining a more uniform temperature distribution on the deposited layers and forming smaller equiaxed grains near the side surfaces of the sample.Appropriate powder particle size is beneficial to the conversion of the electromagnetic energy into heat.Particles with small size are recommended to form equiaxed grains and to improve product quality.Appropriate powder flow rate improves the laser energy efficiency,and higher powder flow rate leads to more uniform equiaxed grains on both sides of the cross-section.

Effect of closed-couple gas atomization pressure on the performances of Al-20Sn-1Cu powders

Al-20Sn-1Cu powders were prepared by gas atomization in an argon atmosphere with atomizing pressures of 1.1 and 1.6 MPa. The characteristics of the powders are determined by means of dry sieving, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, optical microscopy （OM）, and X-ray diffractometry （XRD）. The results show that the powders exhibit a bimodal size distribution and a higher gas pressure results in a broad size distribution. All particles in both cases are spherical or nearly spherical and satellites form on the surface of coarse particles. Dendritic and cellular structures coexist in the particle. With decreasing particle diameter, the secondary dendrite arm spacing （SDAS） decreases and the cooling rate increases. The particles processed under high gas atomization pressure （1.6 MPa） exhibit a lower SDAS value and a higher cooling rate than those of the same size under low gas atomization pressure （1.1 MPa）. The XRD results show that the Sn content increases with decreasing particle size.