In the early stages of the development of 3D printing (additive manufacturing) technology, the technology of high-end metal 3D printing powder has always been in the hands of developed countries such as Europe and the United States. The blockade of foreign milling technology and the embargo on high-end powder materials have made it difficult for China to develop applications in the field of high-end metal 3D printing.
In 2016, CSWT Powder Materials Technology Co., Ltd. took the lead in independently developing the electrode induction gas atomization (EIGA) powdering technology in China with its years of technology accumulation in the field of powder metallurgy. In the second half of 2018, it successfully developed a new plasma atomization method (NPA) technology for the production of high-performance powder materials for metal 3D printing.
"The high thermal energy input and steady flow atomization characteristics based on plasma jet can effectively control the microscopic defects such as the hollow powder rate of the powder and the satellite ball. The powder has a high sphericity and a smooth surface, showing the" water-like "fluidity, especially Adapt to the metal 3D printing process. "
The 3D printed metal powder produced by CSWT has good fluidity
Under the observation of scanning electron microscope, the powder particles are quite uniform and the sphericity is very high
Zoom in and observe the sphericity of a single metal powder is very high
Plasma atomization (NPA) is an industry-recognized "all-excellent" technology for the preparation of spherical metal powders. Use metal wire (such as titanium alloy wire, zirconium alloy wire, etc.) as a raw material, use a plasma jet to melt the wire, and then impact disperse and atomize into ultra-fine droplets. The cooled argon gas passed into the atomization tower is subjected to heat exchange, and then cooled and solidified into ultrafine powder.
Compared with the plasma rotating electrode powdering technology (PREP), the titanium powder produced by the NPA technology guarantees high sphericity while the powder is finer and the fine powder yield is excellent; compared with the gas atomization methods such as VIGA and EIGA, While ensuring the yield of fine powder, NPA has higher powder sphericity, few satellite balls, and almost no hollow powder; compared with plasma spheroidization, the production efficiency of NPA process is higher.
CSWT has realized batch milling with NPA technology
The comprehensive advantages of NPA technology can be said to be a true "all eugenics". It is reported that currently only GE Additive of the United States has similar technology, but it has been strictly blocked by the embargo. Victor successfully overcome this core technology, which is of great significance for the preparation of high-end metal 3D printing powder with independent intellectual property rights in China, and will also solve the problem of raw materials in high-end application scenarios.
The powder material produced by CSWT has the characteristics of high purity, low oxygen increase, good sphericity, uniform particle size, good fluidity, and no microscopic pores. It is used in many fields such as aerospace, aviation, military industry, vehicles, equipment, medical treatment, etc. Digital flexible intelligent manufacturing, production of complex components, lightweight manufacturing, and remanufacturing of high-value parts are used in a wide range of industries. High-quality titanium alloy 3D printing materials compete with foreign products with extremely high cost performance, breaking the monopoly of foreign products, and are expected to quickly become the leader in the field of China's additive manufacturing industry chain materials.
CSWT has developed a number of metal powder production technology breakthroughs. At present, there are 8 cutting-edge patent applications and authorizations, and the products have entered the stage of preliminary mass production and marketization. Now it has become a high-tech enterprise producing micro-nano-level advanced metal powder materials.
In addition, on the basis of the production of typical titanium materials for additive manufacturing, CSWT continues to develop and reserve, and launch different cutting-edge materials to prepare the latest technology to meet the production technology characteristics of the industry's high-performance diverse material system.
