Characterization of CrMnNi Steel Powders Obtained via Gas Atomization

To obtain a successful product during additive manufacturing, the powder as a raw material must have the high quality. The purpose of this work is to investigate CrMnNi steel powders obtained by inert gas atomization with nickel content: 3, 6, and 9 wt% and to identify dependencies between the powder size and morphology, solidification structure, and change in chemical composition and thermophysical properties. Particle size distribution is measured by a laser scattering analyzer: d50 value are 82.02, 69.32, and 75.54 μm for powders with 3, 6, and 9 wt%, respectively. Surface tension (ST) measurements are made by maximum bubble pressure method: for steels with 3, 6, and 9 wt% at temperature 1500 °C, ST is 1.01, 1.07, and 1.15 mN m−1, respectively. It is found that the change in particle size affects the chemical composition, the content of the ferromagnetic phase and secondary dendritic arm‐spacing. Changes in the content of elements such as S, O, N, and Mn are determined, depending on the diameter of the particles. The influence of changes in content of S, O, and N on the thermophysical properties such as ST is investigated.