Morphology, material balance and dynamics of accumulation of electroerosion Nickel powders

Purpose. Investigation of morphology, determination of material balance and dynamics of accumulation of electroerosive nickel powders.Methods. To analyze the shape and morphology of the surface of nickel powder particles, as well as to compile the material balance and dynamics of their accumulation, electroerosion nickel powders were obtained by electroerosion dispersion from PNK-0T1 nickel waste in two different dielectric media: aviation kerosene and distilled water. The operating values of the EED parameters are: voltage at the electrodes 115-120 V for kerosene and 98-105 V for water, respectively; capacitor capacity 44.0–45.5 UF for kerosene and 60.0–62.0 UF for water, respectively; pulse frequency 60-65 Hz for kerosene and 100-110 Hz for water, respectively. Microanalysis of the powder particles was performed using a QUANTA 600 FEG scanning electron microscope.Results. Morphological studies aimed at determining the shape of the surface of the EENP particles made it possible to establish that the particles are characterized by a spherical and, more rarely, an elliptical shape, and the formation of aggregates from particles of the smallest diameter was also noted. The maximum loss of material in the EED process is 0.7% of the total mass. The efficiency of the nickel waste EED process is 4.3 g/hour for distilled water and 2.3 g/hour for aviation kerosene.Conclusion. The obtained research results can be used to develop a new heavy pseudo-alloy using metal waste from expensive nickel raw materials by electroerosion dispersion with subsequent improvement and optimization of the alloy composition and structure to achieve the necessary characteristics of a new heavy pseudo-alloy.