What are the manufacturing methods of titanium powder?

 

 

At present, there are mainly the following methods for producing titanium alloy powder:

 

1. Mechanical Milling

Principle: The most basic and primitive method, through mechanical force, such as ball milling or hammering, the block titanium alloy is ground into powder.

Features: The powder shape is irregular, the particle size distribution is wide, the purity is low, and there are many impurities.

Advantages: The equipment is relatively simple and the cost is low.

Disadvantages: The powder purity is low and the sphericity is poor.

 

2. Gas Atomization

 

Principle: The molten titanium alloy is cut by a high-speed gas (such as argon or nitrogen) flow to form tiny droplets, which solidify into powder during the cooling process.

Features: The powder particles are relatively regular in shape, the surface is relatively smooth, and there are more spherical powders, which are suitable for additive manufacturing (3D printing) and powder metallurgy.

Advantages: Suitable for large-scale production, the powder particle size is controllable, and the purity is high.

Disadvantages: The equipment cost is high and the gas consumption is large.
 

3. Plasma Atomization

 

Principle: Use plasma arc to melt titanium alloy wire, and use high-speed plasma gas flow to atomize the molten metal into powder.
Features: high powder sphericity, low oxygen content, and high purity.
Advantages: High powder quality, suitable for fields with high material performance requirements such as aerospace.
Disadvantages: Complex equipment and high cost.

 

4. Plasma Rotating Electrode Process (PREP)

 

Principle: The molten titanium alloy is thrown out by the centrifugal force generated by the rotating electrode to form powder particles. In this process, the plasma arc is used to heat the electrode.
Features: High particle sphericity and good purity.
Advantages: Suitable for preparing powders with high purity and high sphericity requirements, suitable for 3D printing.
Disadvantages: Relatively low production efficiency and high equipment cost.
 

5. Electrolysis

 

Principle: Dissolve the titanium alloy in the electrolyte and use the current to precipitate the metal powder.
Features: High purity and relatively fine powder particles.
Advantages: Suitable for preparing high-purity titanium powder and suitable for small-scale production.
Disadvantages: Low efficiency and small output.
 

6. Hydrogenation-Dehydrogenation (HDH)

 

Principle: After titanium alloy reacts with hydrogen to generate hydride, it is mechanically crushed to generate powder, and then dehydrogenated to obtain titanium powder.
Features: The powder particles are irregular in shape and have a high oxygen content.
Advantages: Low production cost, simple process, high production efficiency, suitable for large-scale production.
Disadvantages: The powder has poor sphericity and it is difficult to control the oxygen content.
 

These methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. The selection of the appropriate method depends on the final application requirements. For example, additive manufacturing usually requires high sphericity and high purity titanium powder, while powder metallurgy can lower the standard and select titanium powder with relatively low sphericity and purity to reduce its production cost.