Plasma spheroidization of additive manufacturing metal powders

United Kingdom – LPW Technology’s plasma spheroidization equipment is now operational and producing higher quality metal powders for use in the additive manufacturing (AM) industry.

Plasma spheroidization uses high energy plasma to produce cleaner, highly spherical and dense metallic powders with greater flowability, reducing down time on the machine and speeding up the manufacturing process.

Already in production are tantalum, tungsten, and titanium alloys, including Ti-6Al-4V. In development are further refractory metals such as Mo and Nb, and ultra-clean nickel based superalloys.

Mike Ford, LPW's sales director, said the plasma spheroidization equipment, which is the only one in the world used in AM, has the potential to revolutionize the industry.

"We are hugely excited to have this next generation equipment on site for the benefit of our customers. LPW are constantly reacting to solve our customer's problems and ensure that we have the right solution to keep them on track. Our plasma spheroidization can produce the best metal powders on the market. They are more spherical and cleaner than those currently available."

The most significant benefit of this novel technology is perfectly spherical powder with no satellites, which increases the flowability and packing density of the powder, especially on AM machines where finer powder is required. 

In addition, levels of surface contamination, compared to conventional gas-atomized powders, are reduced. This has the potential to enhance mechanical properties in the finished AM component.

LPW engineers are ready to exploit the added benefit, which is the potential for the recycling of powders after several uses on an AM machine, perhaps where the oxygen content has increased and is no longer in specification. At LPW’s laboratory, engineers will comprehensively test the received powder, blend multiple batches and re-size if necessary, before fully analyzing and certifying the powder after plasma spheroidization. The cost savings on material re-usage can prove significant and cut manufacture costs down considerably. We are actively seeking beta-test customers with whom to trial this approach.

LPW's highly experienced, award winning team have gained a reputation for excellence within the AM industry. LPW has a proven record of working successfully with blue chip companies within the aerospace, medical, defense, energy and automotive industry. 

This unrivalled experience has the LPW team to gain a deep understanding of the powder requirements for the AM process which means we are uniquely qualified to use the plasma spheroidization process to produce higher quality materials for use in industry.

Source: LPW