Inductively Coupled Plasma Process for Reconditioning Ti and Ni Alloy Powders for Additive Manufacturing

Published

March 11, 2021

Author(s)

Brendan Lewis, Adam Brooks, Edward Garboczi, Rutuja Samant

Abstract

The amount of cycles required for a powder to go from its virgin state to a state that can alter final part mechanical properties is currently unknown. While ideal, the use of virgin powder for every additive manufacturing (AM) build is not practical or economical. It is critical to investigate new methods that will help mitigate these cost drivers and enable the use of recycled powder in AM. Presented here is initial work on the use of an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) process to recondition AM powders used in laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF). The manuscript focuses on the characterization of used powder before and after the plasma reconditioning process as well as highlighting some challenges faced while developing optimum process parameters. A distinct change in the morphology of the powder was observed before and after the induction plasma process where most, but not all, irregular shaped powder particles were converted into more spherical particles. A detailed analysis regarding the percentage of spherical and non-spherical particles before and after the ICP process is also included, as well as its effect on particle porosity. The results indicate the value of using the ICP process as a viable option for powder recycling.

Citation

Additive Manufacturing

Volume

52A

Issue

MAY2021

Pub Type

Journals

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DOI Link

Keywords

Additive manufacturing, Metal powder, Powder recycling, Plasma spheroidization, X-ray computed tomography

Citation

Lewis, B. , Brooks, A. , Garboczi, E. and Samant, R. (2021), Inductively Coupled Plasma Process for Reconditioning Ti and Ni Alloy Powders for Additive Manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing, [online], https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-021-06198-5 (Accessed October 31, 2024)