Application of plasma atomization for obtaining non-ferrous metal powders

The use of additive technologies in various industries using 3D-printers poses a number of challenges for materials research. It is important to know what initial metal powders are used to manufacture parts, assemblies, and even finished products. The wide range of mechanical engineering products raises the question of the possibility of using different grades of materials for additive technologies. Powder materials are subject to a number of strict requirements for chemical composition, absence of defects, and formation of various compounds on the surface, structure, and sphericity of the resulting particles. Depending on the 3D-printing method, it is necessary to ensure the requirements for the granulometric composition of the powders. The article considers the production of powder materials by plasma atomization, and provides recommended process parameters for the operation of the atomizer to obtain the maximum amount of powders of commercial fractions. It is shown that the occurrence of particle porosity can be affected by the quality of wire preparation, plasma-forming and shielding gases. The influence of various factors on obtaining a stable crystallization structure is considered. It has been established that control of temperature and flows of protective gas in the spray chamber allows to minimize the number of nano- and ultra-dispersed defects: micro-liquations and segregations in the volume of powder particles. The paper presents data confirming the possibility of using the method of plasma spraying of solid feedstocks to obtain high-quality powders for additive machines from alloys based on nickel, titanium, and copper. It has been shown that the obtained powders can be used to manufacture products by methods of direct or selective laser melting of parts, units, and mechanisms for various purposes.