Influence of atomising gas on particle characteristics of Al, Al–1 wt-%Li, Mg, and Sn powders

The influence of physical and flow properties of atomising gas on the particle characteristics of gas atomised Al, Al–1 wt-%Li, Mg, and Sn powders was investigated in a pilot plant gas atomiser with IN4/ON18/3·5–4·0 type ‘confined design’ nozzle. In the tests, Al powders were produced under high and low pressures of argon, under air, (N2 + O2 ) mixture, nitrogen, and helium; Al–1 wt-%Li binary alloy powders were produced under argon and helium; Mg powders were produced under high and low pressures of argon and helium; and finally Sn powders were produced under argon, nitrogen, and helium. The morphology, size, size distribution, and surface features of the powders used in the present study were examined under SEM together with dry and wet sieving, used for sizing the powders. It was observed that high gas velocities and/or low atomising gas densities not only affect powder particle size, but also shape and surface texture. The oxygen content of the atomising gases also has an influence on the powder particle shape. In this context, powders produced under helium are finer in size owing to efficient secondary breakup; more spherically shaped in their fine size fraction in non-oxidising or difficult to oxidise atomising liquids (such as Sn and Al), because the time to breakup is shorter than that for solidification; and more irregularly shaped in their coarse size fraction in oxidising atomising liquids (such as Mg and Al–Li) owing to oxygen (the time to breakup is longer than that for solidification) compared with other atomising gases such as argon, air, (N2 +O2 ) mixtures, and pure nitrogen.