Device and method for producing metal powders
AssigneeL'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes George Claude
InventorsSébastien Doublet, Eric Verna, Olivier Debellemaniere
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing powder from a first and a second materials for use in additive manufacturing, the manufacturing process including melting the first and second materials by an electric arc; spraying the melted materials so as to form droplets; cooling the droplets by a carrier gas so as to form solid particles; separating the solid particles from the carrier gas and collecting the solid particles so as to form the powder; and enriching the droplets and/or the particles by means of an active substance.
Claims16
A method for manufacturing powder from a first material and a second material, the manufacturing method comprising:
- a step of melting the first and second materials, by an electric arc, to form first and second molten materials;
- a step of spraying the first and second molten materials with a carrier gas so as to form droplets;
- a step of cooling the droplets by the carrier gas and a cooling gas so as to form solid particles with a particle size distribution between 5 μm and 150 μm;
- a step of enriching the droplets and/or the particles by an active substance, implemented during the cooling step, the enrichment step being preceded by a step of ionising the active substance;
- and
- a step of separating the solid particles from the carrier gas and collecting the solid particles so as to form the powder,
- wherein the carrier gas and the cooling gas present a volume flow ratio of 2 to 1.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.