Manufacturing Fe–TiC Composite Powder via Inert Gas Atomization by Forming Reinforcement Phase In Situ

Abstract

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) are materials that have a ductile matrix reinforced with a hard ceramic phase. This combination gives advanced mechanical and functional properties, such as high yield and tensile strength, modulus, and wear resistance. [1-4] Therefore, these materials are widely utilized in automotive, aerospace, medicine, and other high-tech industries. Traditionally, MMC materials are fabricated via the powder metallurgy route, where metal and ceramic powders are premixed and then sintered. [5] As the reinforcement phase, carbides, oxides, nitrides, and borides are normally implemented. Due to the rapid development of the additive manufacturing (AM) market, there is a demand for new materials that can be fabricated additively including MMCs. Moreover, MMCs are normally hard to machine adjusting a semiproduct to a final shape. Thus, manufacturing a nearnet-shape MMC product is an attractive solution, which can further promote the introduction of AM techniques. Dadbakhsh et al. [6] reviewed several attempts of MMC manufacturing via laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) dealing with Al-, Ti-, and steel-based materials. Specifically, Yuan et al. [7] produced AlSi10Mg-5.8 vol% TiC composite material finding the optimal parameters for the sufficient distribution of the TiC-phase during a L-PBF process. Gu et al. [8] fabricated the Ti/TiC composite revealing a dependence of the reinforcement phase shape and its distribution in the matrix on the L-PBF process parameters and TiC content (up to 22.5 wt%). AlMangour et al. [9] investigated 316 L/TiC MMC with varying reinforcement phase content from 2.5 to 15 vol%. These examples describe the ex situ addition of the reinforcement phase to the matrix by mixing metal and TiC powders prior to the printing process. As an alternative, it is possible to fabricate the reinforcement phase in situ bringing needed elements in contact. Tjong et al. [10] summarized the benefits of in situ formation of the reinforcement phase: enhanced thermodynamic stability, strong interfacial bonding, sufficient reinforcement phase distribution, and refinement, which further improve the mechanical properties of MMC. In the recent years, the in situ approach for AM gained much attention among researches. [11-25] For instance, Promakhov et al. [24] produced Inconel 625/TiB 2 MMC material applying self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS). Obtained blocks were grinded to a coarse powder and then plasma spheroidized yielding spherical particles with TiB 2 reinforcements of 0.5-5 μm size. Thereby, this powder was successfully utilized for test samples fabrication by direct laser deposition technique (DLD). AlMangour et al. [12] utilized for L-PBF mechanically alloyed composite powder. For this experiment, 316L-Ti-graphite mixed powders were milled for 35 h

A review—metastable β titanium alloy for biomedical applications

“…The chosen additive manufacturing method, as well as the quality Ti and its alloy powder, has a substantial effect on the quality of implants made via additive manufacturing. The biomaterials are produced using additive manufacturing techniques such as directed energy deposition [70], laser-based powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M) [71], powder fed system of binder jetting [72], electron beam powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-EB/M) [73], plasma atomization [74], gas atomization [75], and plasma rotating electrode process [76].…”

Modification of Liquid Steel Viscosity and Surface Tension for Inert Gas Atomization of Metal Powder

“…Atomizations of the metal samples were executed in the inert gas atomization unit VIGA-1B (supplied by ALD Vacuum Technologies) ( Figure 2). A detailed description of the unit can be found in previous publications [15,16]. The atomizer consists of two vacuum-tight steel chambers.…”

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment and Cost Analysis of the Production of Ti6Al4V-TiC Metal–Matrix Composite Powder by High-Energy Ball Milling and Ti6Al4V Powder by Gas Atomization

“…Currently, Gas Atomization (GA) is the leading processing method to produce metal powders for AM [20]. During this process, liquid metal melted in a furnace is sprayed into droplets by a pulverisation of high-pressurised gas, which fall into a cooling chamber under inert gas protection to solidify, form, and obtain metal powder particles with fine sizes (<100 µm), high sphericity, and flowability [21][22][23]. In the route of nanostructured materials production, a better alternative to the aforementioned method is High Energy Ball Milling (HEBM), a simple and powerful process to produce them [24].…”