Nickel based alloy for powder and method for producing a powder

A method for the manufacture of a powder from a nickel-base alloy, wherein the contents of the nickel-base alloy (in wt %) are defined as follows:

• C 0.015-0.5%
• S max. 0.15%
• Cr 20-25%
• Ni the rest
• Mn max. 1%
• Si max. 1%
• Mo up to 10%
• Ti 0.25-0.6%
• Nb up to 5.5%
• Cu up to 5%
• Fe up to 25%
• P max. 0.03%
• Al 0.8-1.5%
• V max. 0.6%
• Zr max. 0.12%
• Co up to 15%
• B 0.006-0.125%
• O >0.00001-0.1%
• and manufacturing-related impurities,
• wherein the ratio of carbon to boron (C/B) lies between 4 and 25
• in which
• an alloy is smelted in a VIM furnace,
• the molten melt is maintained for 5 minutes to 2 hours for homogenization,
• a closed atomization system having a supplied gas is adjusted to a dew point of −10° C. to −120° C.,
• the melt is blown by a nozzle in a gas stream with a gas flow rate of 2 qm3/min to 150 qm3/min,
• the solidified powder particles are collected in a gas-tight closed container, wherein
• the particles have a particle size of 5 μm to 250 μm,
• the particles of the powder are spherical,
• the powder has gas inclusions of 0.0 to 4% pore area (pores >1 μm) in relationship to the total area of evaluated objects,
• the powder has a bulk density of 2 g/cm3 up to the density of the alloy, which is approximately 8 g/cm3,
• the powder is packed air-tightly under the protective-gas atmosphere with argon.