Titanium alloy powders, mostly the Ti-64 alloy with composition Ti-6Al-4V (wt.%), are extensively used for biomedical and high-demanding applications, e.g. in aeronautics. Advanced powder metallurgy processes like additive manufacturing are strong drivers for the production of high quality powders, insuring a good rheological behavior, a low porosity level in the parts and an adequate roughness. Ideally, fine spherical particles with no volume and surface defects are aimed at.
Inert gas atomization is a process that is able to produce clean powders for such applications, especially for AM. To avoid the chemical reaction of titanium with the commonly used alumina crucibles, a crucible-free configuration has been designed in the EIGA process (Electrode induction melting Inert Gas Atomization). Two EIGA facilities are currently available in France for R&D purposes: a one-liter (nominal rod diameter/length (mm): 50/500) labscale facility at ONERA and an eight-liter capacity (100/1000) industrial-scale facility at the MetaFensch Institute. Using the smaller facility to screen and optimize atomization parameters and transfer them to the bigger facility is a tempting approach. This communication will show the characteristics of Ti-64 powders produced in both facilities, in terms of particle shape, particle size distribution, presence of satellites and porous particles.
Computational fluid dynamic investigation of the primary and secondary atomization of the free-fall atomizer in electrode induction melting gas atomization process
