Electrometallurgy Today, 2025, №02

2025 №02 (04)

DOI of Article 10.37434/sem2025.02.05

2025 №02 (06)

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"Suchasna Elektrometallurgiya" (Electrometallurgy Today), 2025, #2, 30-36 pages

Spherical titanium powder production for 3D printing by plasma-arc atomization of wire materials

V.M. Korzhyk1, D.V. Strohonov¹, O.S. Tereshchenko¹, O.V. Ganushchak¹, A.Yu. Tunik¹, V.A. Kostin¹, S.L. Chygileichyk², V.K. Yuliuhin¹

¹E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine 11 Kazymyr Malevych Str., 03150, Kyiv, Ukraine. E-mail: vnkorzhyk@gmail.com
²JSC «Ivchenko-Progress». 2 Ivanova Str., 69068, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

Abstract
The possibility of spherical titanium powder production by the technology of plasma-arc atomization of solid Cp-Ti Grade 2 wire with a diameter of 1.0 and 1.6 mm has been experimentally confirmed. Analysis of the particle size distribution of the powder showed that in the case of atomization of titanium wire with a diameter of 1.0 mm, the main fraction is ‒140 μm, which is 96 % of the total mass of the powder, where the amount of the finely dispersed fraction of ‒63 μm is up to 60 wt.%, and in the case of wire with a diameter of 1.6 mm, the main fraction is ‒200 μm, which is 95 wt.%, while the amount of the finely dispersed fraction of ‒63 μm does not exceed 38 wt.%. A study of shape parameters of the titanium powder was performed, which showed that most particles have a regular spherical shape with an average sphericity coefficient close to 0.9, the number of particles with satellites, and particles of irregular shape does not exceed 1 wt.%, which determines the high technological properties of the produced powder, which are on a par with other industrial technologies of spherical powder production by plasma and gas atomization methods. The chemical and phase composition of the atomized powder was investigated, and it was found that the phase composition consists of α-Ti, and the chemical composition corresponds to the ASTM B 348-05 standard. It was shown that application of the technology of plasma-arc atomization of titanium wire allows obtaining spherical powders that can be used as consumables for 3D printing of products for the aviation, rocket and space, medical, energy and chemical industries by the methods of electron beam melting (EBM), laser direct energy deposition (LDED) and plasma metal deposition (PMD). 22 Ref., 4 Tabl., 4 Fig.
Keywords: plasma-arc atomization, solid wire, titanium, sphericity, powders, 3D printing

Received: 06.01.2025
Received in revised form: 06.02.2025
Accepted: 02.05.2025

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