Regulation of powder particles shape and size at plasma spraying

Additive technologies are among the most rapidly developing areas of modern production. To ensure the progressive movement of additive technologies development in the Russian Federation, it is necessary to provide maximum availability of additive raw materials – spherical metal powders for the domestic enterprises; however, the absence of domestic assemblies to produce such powders hampers the solution of this issue. Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University has developed and successfully carried out industrial tests of a plasma atomization system for solid metal feedstocks of various chemical compositions. The paper presents the results of the study of the influence of some technological parameters on the granulometric size, shape, and defect structure of 12H18N9 steel and VG98 alloy powders. The paper includes the results of the research of the influence of such spraying parameters as the current strength and the plasma-forming gas velocity supplied to the plasma generator and the volume of protective gas supplied to the spray torch through the fluidized bed system nozzles located in the midsection of the atomizer spraying chamber. The study showed that by increasing the current strength and the plasma-forming gas velocity, it is possible to reduce the average size of the powder particles; and by changing the volume of the protective gas supply, it is possible to control the particle shape. The analysis of the chemical composition of the obtained powders shows that during the spraying process, there is no loss of alloying elements and the powder composition is the same as the original feedstock compositions. The paper gives the developed modes for the alloy feedstocks spraying, shows the possibility to produce metal powders with the level of the spherical shape factor of 92–96 % and minimal – not exceeding 0.5 % of powder aggregate weight – number of particles with nonmetallic inclusions, external and internal defects.