CN112091229A - Device and method for refining particle size of metal powder - Google Patents
Device and method for refining particle size of metal powder Download PDFInfo
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- CN112091229A CN112091229A CN202011239503.6A CN202011239503A CN112091229A CN 112091229 A CN112091229 A CN 112091229A CN 202011239503 A CN202011239503 A CN 202011239503A CN 112091229 A CN112091229 A CN 112091229A
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
- B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
- B22F9/00—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof
- B22F9/02—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes
- B22F9/14—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes using electric discharge
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
- B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
- B22F1/00—Metallic powder; Treatment of metallic powder, e.g. to facilitate working or to improve properties
- B22F1/06—Metallic powder characterised by the shape of the particles
- B22F1/065—Spherical particles
Abstract
The invention relates to a device and a method for refining the grain diameter of metal powder. The device includes: an atomization chamber; the powder feeding assembly is communicated with the atomizing chamber and is used for providing coarse-grain-size metal powder to the atomizing chamber; a heating unit provided in a communication path between the powder feeding unit and the atomizing chamber, for heating the coarse-grained metal powder to a state where the coarse-grained metal powder starts to melt before the coarse-grained metal powder is decomposed; and an inert gas supply system for decomposing the coarse-particle-size metal powder by blowing an inert gas to the heated coarse-particle-size metal powder, and for providing a protective atmosphere at the time of heating and decomposition of the coarse-particle-size metal powder. The invention can separate 1 coarse-grain-size metal powder into a plurality of fine-grain-size metal powders, so that the grain sizes of the produced metal powders are concentrated to 10-100 mu m.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of atomization powder preparation, in particular to a device and a method for refining the particle size of metal powder.
Background
In recent years, with the development of powder metallurgy technologies such as hot isostatic pressing, metal additive manufacturing, injection molding and the like, the demand for metal powder is rapidly increased; particularly, with the development of new technologies such as metal additive manufacturing technology, higher requirements are put on the quality of metal powder, especially on the particle size distribution, and the requirements of 3D printing technology represented by selective melting and forming of a powder bed on the particle size of metal powder are mainly focused on 15-100 μm.
In the related art, the production technology of metal powder mainly includes gas atomization powder making, plasma fuse atomization powder making, plasma rotating electrode powder making and the like. The gas atomization powder preparation adopts high-pressure gas to directly act on the metal solution, so that the prepared metal powder has more hollow powder; the plasma fuse atomization powder manufacturing technology can only be used for atomization powder manufacturing of non-brittle wires, and the type of powder material is limited; the metal powder produced by the plasma rotating electrode powder making technology has become the high-quality powder preparation technology accepted in the industry due to the excellent qualities of high sphericity, good fluidity, low impurity content and the like.
With regard to the above technical solutions, the inventors have found that at least some of the following technical problems exist: the traditional rotary electrode powder manufacturing technology is limited by technical bottlenecks such as the ultimate working rotating speed of equipment, the diameter of an electrode bar and the like, and the particle size of the produced metal powder is concentrated at 20-250 mu m. Taking titanium alloy powder as an example, the yield of the rotary electrode powder with the particle size of less than 100 μm is less than 40%, and the thicker powder particle size limits the application of the rotary electrode powder manufacturing technology in the field of 3D printing.
Accordingly, there is a need to ameliorate one or more of the problems with the related art solutions described above.
It is noted that this section is intended to provide a background or context to the inventive concepts recited in the claims. The description herein is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Disclosure of Invention
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for refining a particle size of metal powder, thereby overcoming, at least to some extent, one or more of the problems due to the limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
First, according to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for refining a particle diameter of metal powder, comprising:
an atomization chamber;
the powder feeding assembly is communicated with the atomizing chamber and is used for providing the metal powder with the coarse grain size to the atomizing chamber;
a heating unit provided in a communication path between the powder feeding unit and the atomizing chamber, for heating the coarse-grained metal powder to a state where the coarse-grained metal powder starts to melt before the coarse-grained metal powder is decomposed;
an inert gas supply system in communication with the atomizing chamber, the heating assembly, the inert gas supply system decomposing the coarse-particle-size metal powder by blowing an inert gas to the heated coarse-particle-size metal powder and for providing a protective atmosphere upon heating and decomposition of the coarse-particle-size metal powder.
Preferably, the powder feeding assembly comprises a supply end for accommodating the coarse-grained metal powder and a delivery end communicated with the supply end, a cylindrical interface is arranged at the top of the atomizing chamber, and the delivery end of the powder feeding assembly is communicated with the atomizing chamber through the cylindrical interface.
Preferably, the top of the atomization chamber is provided with a cylindrical interface, the cylindrical interface is provided with an interlayer, and the heating assembly is arranged in the interlayer of the cylindrical interface.
Preferably, the inert gas supply system includes an inert gas source, a low-pressure gas outlet end and a high-pressure gas outlet end, the inert gas source is used for supplying inert gas to the low-pressure gas outlet end and the high-pressure gas outlet end, the low-pressure gas outlet end and the high-pressure gas outlet end are both communicated with the atomizing chamber, and the high-pressure gas outlet end is arranged below the heating assembly.
Preferably, the height range of the heating assembly is 10-200 mm, the diameter range is 2-100 mm, and the power range is 1-1000 kW.
Preferably, the height, diameter and operating power of the heating assembly are related to the material and particle size of the coarse-grained metal powder.
Preferably, the powder feeding speed of the powder feeding assembly is 10-10000 g/min, and is related to the working power of the heating assembly.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a method of refining a particle size of metal powder, comprising the steps of:
providing a protective atmosphere through the inert gas supply system;
providing the coarse-sized metal powder to the atomization chamber through the powder feed assembly;
heating, by the heating assembly, the coarse-grained metal powder to a state that begins to melt before the coarse-grained metal powder is decomposed in the protective atmosphere;
blowing an inert gas to the heated coarse-particle-size metal powder by the inert gas supply system in the protective atmosphere to decompose the coarse-particle-size metal powder;
wherein the coarse-grained metal powder in a state of starting to melt has an outer portion in a liquid state and an inner portion in a solid state.
Preferably, the coarse-grained metal powder is heated by the heating assembly to have an outer portion in a liquid state and an inner portion in a solid state.
Preferably, the heated coarse-particle-size metal powder is blown with an inert gas at a pressure of 3 to 8Mpa and a speed of 50 to 800m/s by an inert gas supply system, so that the liquid outer portion is separated from the solid inner portion.
Preferably, the powder feeding speed of the powder feeding assembly and the operating power of the heating assembly are adjusted for metal powders of different materials and particle sizes.
The technical scheme provided by the invention can have the following beneficial effects:
by the method and the device, on one hand, 1 piece of coarse-particle-size metal powder can be separated into a plurality of pieces of fine-particle-size metal powder, so that the particle size of the produced metal powder is concentrated in 10-100 mu m, and the metal powder can be used as a perfect complement for the traditional rotary electrode atomization powder-making technology; on the other hand, the method has the advantages of high sphericity, good fluidity and good compressibility of the metal powder, and has the characteristics of high efficiency, good quality and good batch consistency.
Drawings
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is to be understood that the drawings in the following description are merely exemplary of the disclosure, and that other drawings may be derived from those drawings by one of ordinary skill in the art without the exercise of inventive faculty.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an apparatus for refining the particle size of metal powder in an exemplary embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a process for refining a coarse grain size metal powder in an exemplary embodiment of the invention;
fig. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the coarse-grained metal powder as it begins to melt in an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
Reference numerals: the device comprises an atomizing chamber-100, a powder discharge port-110, a powder feeding component-200, a feeding end 210, a conveying end-220, a heating component-300, a vacuum system-400, an inert gas feeding system-500, a high-pressure gas outlet end-510, a low-pressure gas outlet end-520, an inert gas source-530, a pressure control component-600, a collecting component-700, coarse-grain-size metal powder-800, an internal part-810 in a solid state, an external part-820 in a liquid state and fine-grain-size metal powder-900.
Detailed Description
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
Furthermore, the drawings are merely schematic illustrations of embodiments of the invention, which are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and thus their repetitive description will be omitted. Some of the block diagrams shown in the figures are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically separate entities.
An apparatus for refining the particle size of metal powder is provided in the present example embodiment. Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the apparatus may include:
an atomization chamber 100; the powder feeding assembly 200, the powder feeding assembly 200 is communicated with the atomizing chamber 100 and is used for providing the coarse-grain-size metal powder 800 to the atomizing chamber 100; a heating unit 300, provided in a communication path between the powder feeding unit 200 and the atomizing chamber 100, for heating the coarse-grained metal powder 800 to a state where the coarse-grained metal powder 800 starts to melt before the coarse-grained metal powder 800 is decomposed; an inert gas supply system 500, the inert gas supply system 500 decomposing the coarse-particle-size metal powder 800 by blowing an inert gas to the heated coarse-particle-size metal powder 800, and for providing a protective atmosphere at the time of heating and decomposition of the coarse-particle-size metal powder 800.
It is to be understood that the preferable particle size range of the coarse-particle-size metal powder 800 when being refined is 100 to 200 μm, but the coarse-particle-size metal powder 800 is not limited thereto, and may have other particle sizes, and the coarse-particle-size metal powder 800 is only the fine-particle-size metal powder 900 obtained by refinement.
It is to be understood that, as shown in fig. 3, when the powder feeding assembly 200 conveys the coarse-size metal powder 800 to the inside of the atomizing chamber 100, the coarse-size metal powder 800 becomes a state of starting to melt after being heated by the heating assembly 300 to form an outer portion 820 in a liquid state and an inner portion 810 in a solid state, and after the coarse-size metal powder 800 enters the inside of the atomizing chamber 100 in this state, the coarse-size metal powder 800 is impacted by the inert gas supplied by the inert gas supply system 500, and the decomposition of the coarse-size metal powder 800 is completed in the atomizing chamber 100, so that 1 coarse-size metal powder is decomposed into a plurality of fine-size metal powders. Since the coarse-grained metal powder 800 is easily reacted with other active gases to destroy the metal powder after being heated to a state where it starts to melt, a protective atmosphere is provided during the heating and decomposition of the coarse-grained metal powder 800. The protective atmosphere refers to a non-oxidation and non-decarburization gas protective environment, and gases such as nitrogen or argon can be selected, so that in order to ensure the reliability of the protective atmosphere and improve the purity of the inert gas in the protective atmosphere, vacuumizing can be performed before the inert gas is injected, and then the inert gas is injected to improve the purity of the inert gas in the protective atmosphere.
Wherein, the atomizing chamber 100 has a sealable performance, and the atomizing chamber 100 is provided with a powder discharge port 110 for discharging the refined metal powder. The heating unit 300 may be heated by induction coils, ion arcs, electric arcs, or electron beams, and the heating unit 300 is not particularly limited as long as the heating temperature of the coarse-grained metal powder 800 can be controlled.
By the device, on one hand, 1 piece of coarse-particle-size metal powder can be decomposed into a plurality of pieces of fine-particle-size metal powder, so that the particle size of the produced metal powder is concentrated to 10-100 mu m; on the other hand, the method can be used as a supplement of the traditional rotary electrode atomization powder preparation technology, has the advantages of high sphericity, good fluidity and good compressibility of metal powder, and has the characteristics of high efficiency, good quality and good batch consistency.
Next, each part of the above-described apparatus in the present exemplary embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to fig. 1 to 2.
In one embodiment, referring to the illustration in fig. 1, the powder feed assembly 200 includes a feed end 210 containing coarse-grained metal powder 800 and a delivery end 220 in communication with the feed end 210, the top of the aerosolization chamber 100 being provided with a cylindrical interface with which the delivery end 220 of the powder feed assembly is in communication. The powder feeding unit 200 may be a scraper type, a rotary disc pneumatic type, an electromagnetic vibration type, a drum type, a double drum type, or the like for conveying the metal powder, and the specific conveying method of the powder feeding unit 200 is not limited as long as the coarse-size metal powder 800 can be supplied to the atomizing chamber 100. It should be understood that the feeding end 210 of the powder feeding assembly 200 may be a separate device for placing the coarse-grained metal powder 800, or a temporary storage device for metal powder of a metal powder milling apparatus, that is, the device of the present invention may be combined with other metal powder milling apparatuses to refine the metal powder obtained by the apparatus again. In addition, the conveying end 220 is communicated with the top end of the atomizing chamber 100, and after the coarse-grained metal powder 800 is conveyed to the top end of the atomizing chamber 100, the coarse-grained metal powder can directly fall into the atomizing chamber 100 through gravity so as to be convenient for heating or decomposing, and the coarse-grained metal powder does not need to be conveyed through an extra device, so that the efficiency is improved, and the cost is saved.
In one embodiment, referring to the illustration in fig. 1, the top of the nebulizing chamber 100 is provided with a cylindrical interface and the cylindrical interface is provided with a sandwich in which the heating assembly 300 is disposed. It is to be understood that the delivery end 220 of the powder feeding assembly 200 may be in communication with the atomizing chamber 100 through a cylindrical interface, the heating assembly 300 may comprise a cylindrical interface, that is, the heating assembly 300 may comprise a cylindrical base provided with a sandwich and a heating element disposed in the sandwich, and the heating assembly 300 is mounted on top of the atomizing chamber 100. The heating element may be an induction coil, ion arc, electric arc or electron beam. In addition, because the heating assembly 300 is arranged at the top of the atomizing chamber 100, after the coarse-grain-size metal powder 800 is conveyed to the top of the atomizing chamber 100, the coarse-grain-size metal powder 800 can be directly heated in the atomizing chamber, so that the heating and the decomposition of the coarse-grain-size metal powder 800 can be completed in the atomizing chamber, the protective atmosphere for the coarse-grain-size metal powder 800 is more favorably provided, only the atomizing chamber needs to be kept in sealing performance, and the simplicity of the device is improved.
In one embodiment, referring to fig. 1, the inert gas supply system 500 comprises an inert gas source 530, a low pressure gas outlet end 520, and a high pressure gas outlet end 510, wherein the inert gas source 530 is configured to supply inert gas to the low pressure gas outlet end 520 and the high pressure gas outlet end 510, and the low pressure gas outlet end 520 and the high pressure gas outlet end 510 are both in communication with the atomizing chamber 100, and wherein the high pressure gas outlet end 510 is disposed below the heating assembly 300. Referring to fig. 1, preferably, a low pressure gas outlet 520 provides a low pressure inert atmosphere to the atomizing chamber through a pressure control valve B, and a high pressure gas outlet 510 is disposed below the heating assembly 300 and provides a high pressure and high speed inert gas through a pressure control valve a, thereby decomposing the heated coarse-grained metal powder 800. The high-pressure air outlet end 510 may adopt a circular seam structure, or may adopt a coupling structure of a plurality of high-pressure nozzles, but is not limited specifically. In addition, the inert gas source 530 may be connected to the low-pressure gas outlet end 520 and the high-pressure gas outlet end 510 through one gas transmission channel, or may be connected to the low-pressure gas outlet end 520 and the high-pressure gas outlet end 510 through two independent gas transmission channels.
In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 2, the heating assembly 300 has a height ranging from 10 to 200mm, a diameter ranging from 2 to 100mm, and a power ranging from 1 to 1000 kW. Specifically, the height H = 10-200 mm and the diameter D = phi 2-100 mm of a heating area of the heating assembly 300; the heating element 300 may be a resistive heating, laser, or radio frequency inductively coupled plasma; the diameter of the coarse-grained metal powder 800 is varied from 100 to 200 μm depending on the melting point of the metal powder (e.g., from an aluminum alloy (600 ℃) to a tungsten alloy (3400 ℃)), and the power range of the corresponding heating unit 300 is 1 to 1000 kW.
Specifically, in one embodiment, and as shown with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, a heating groupThe height H, diameter D, and operating power of the piece are related to the material and particle size of the coarse-grained metal powder 800. When the diameter is phi D1When the coarse-grained metal powder 800 is heated to a state where it starts to melt, the diameter of the solid inner portion 810 is Φ D2The outer portion 820 in the liquid state is in the range Φ D1-ΦD2The heat quantity Q required for the coarse-grained metal powder 800 to be heated to the state where melting starts is expressed by the correlation expression:
where ρ is the theoretical density of the metal powder, CPIs the specific heat, T, of the metal powdermIs the melting point of the metal powder, HmIs the latent heat of fusion, T, of the metal powder0Is at room temperature.
According to the expression, the heat quantity required for melting the single metal powder particle is in a cubic relation with the diameter, and the larger the particle size of the powder particle is, the larger the energy required for melting is, and the powder particle is not easy to evaporate. The metal powder heated by the heating assembly 300 generally undergoes the following stages: solid phase heating, heating from an initial temperature to the melting point of the material, and melting the solid phase at the melting point; the liquid phase is heated from the melting point of the material to near the boiling point of the material. The heat quantity required by the coarse-grained metal powder 800 at each stage in the heating element 300 is calculated, and the working power of the heating element 300 is adjusted accordingly.
In one embodiment, the powder feeding speed of the powder feeding assembly 200 is in a range of 10-10000 g/min, and the powder feeding speed of the powder feeding assembly 200 is related to the working power of the heating assembly 300. It is to be understood that the amount of heat required to heat a single metal powder can be derived from expression (1), and the amount of metal powder to be heated by the heating assembly 300, and thus the operating power of the heating assembly 300, can be determined by adjusting the powder feeding speed of the powder feeding assembly 200.
In one embodiment, referring to the illustration in fig. 1, the apparatus further comprises a vacuum system 400, the vacuum system 400 being in communication with the nebulizing chamber 100 for providing a vacuum environment prior to the inert gas supply system 500 providing the protective atmosphere. After the atomization chamber 100 is vacuumized, extra gas can be effectively removed, and then the inert gas supply system 500 is used for supplying inert gas to the atomization chamber 100, so that the purity of the inert gas in the atomization chamber 100 can be increased, and the reliability of the protective atmosphere is ensured.
In one embodiment, referring to fig. 1, the present device further includes a pressure control assembly 600, the pressure control assembly 600 being in communication with the nebulizing chamber 100 for stabilizing the pressure inside the nebulizing chamber 100. When the inert gas supply system 500 blows the inert gas for decomposing the coarse-grained metal powder 800, since the excessive inert gas raises the internal pressure of the atomizing chamber 100, thereby affecting the blowing speed of the inert gas and further affecting the effective decomposition of the coarse-grained metal powder 800, the excessive gas is discharged through the pressure control module 600, the internal pressure of the atomizing chamber 100 is stabilized, and the efficient operation of the apparatus is ensured.
In one embodiment, referring to fig. 1, the apparatus further comprises a collecting assembly 700, the collecting assembly 700 being in communication with the powder discharge port 110 of the atomizing chamber 100 for collecting the refined metal powder. Wherein the collection assembly 700 simultaneously ensures the sealability of the atomizing chamber 100 during the process of collecting the metal powder, thereby allowing the device to continuously operate while collecting the metal powder. It should be understood that the collection assembly 700 may be fixedly attached to the aerosolization chamber 100 to store the collected metal powder in an additional receptacle. The collection assembly 700 may also be detachably connected to the atomizing chamber 100, and when the collection assembly 700 completes the collection of the metal powder, the collection assembly 700 may be detached and replaced with another collection assembly and the collection of the metal powder may continue. Preferably, the collection assembly 700 includes a pneumatic butterfly valve by which the sealability of the atomizing chamber is maintained during the collection of the metal powder, and a powder collection tank by which the refined metal powder is stored.
Also provided in this example embodiment is a method of refining the particle size of a metal powder. Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the method may include the steps of:
providing a protective atmosphere through the inert gas supply system 500;
providing coarse-grained metal powder 800 to the atomization chamber 100 through the powder feed assembly 200;
heating the coarse-grained metal powder 800 to a state of starting to melt before the coarse-grained metal powder 800 is decomposed by the heating assembly 300 in a protective atmosphere;
in the protective atmosphere, the inert gas supply system 500 blows the inert gas to the heated coarse-particle-size metal powder 800 to decompose the coarse-particle-size metal powder 800.
The coarse-grained metal powder 800 in a state of starting to melt has an outer portion 220 in a liquid state and an inner portion 210 in a solid state.
It is to be understood that, when the powder feeding assembly 200 conveys the coarse-size metal powder 800 to the inside of the atomizing chamber 100, the coarse-size metal powder 800 becomes a state of starting to melt after being heated by the heating assembly 300 to form an outer portion 820 in a liquid state and an inner portion 810 in a solid state, and after the coarse-size metal powder 800 enters the inside of the atomizing chamber 100 in this state, the coarse-size metal powder 800 is impacted by the inert gas supplied by the inert gas supply system 500, and the decomposition of the coarse-size metal powder 800 is completed in the atomizing chamber 100, so that 1 coarse-size metal powder is decomposed into a plurality of fine-size metal powders. The powder feeding assembly 200 may supply a fixed amount of the coarse-grained metal powder 800 to the heating assembly 300 and the atomizing chamber 100 by uniform transportation. Thereby stabilizing the heating and decomposition process of the coarse-grained metal powder 800. The inert gas supply system 500 fills the inert gas with the purity of more than 99.999% into the atomization chamber 100 to reach the positive pressure of 0.02-0.2 Mpa, so that the high-purity inert atmosphere environment of the atomization powder-making forming process is met.
It should also be appreciated that the atomizing chamber 100 typically has a powder discharge opening 110, and therefore, after the coarse-grained metal powder 800 is refined, there may be a step 5: the refined metal powder is discharged out of the atomizing chamber 100 through the powder discharge port 110 of the atomizing chamber 100.
In one embodiment, the coarse-grained metal powder 800 is heated by the heating assembly 300 to have an outer portion 820 that is in a liquid state and an inner portion 810 that is in a solid state. Preferably, the heating assembly 300 heats the coarse-grained metal powder 800 using gradient heating. The gradient heating method is to divide the heating area of the heating element 300 into different heating sections, each section has different heating temperatures, the heating temperature or the holding time is precisely controlled in a segmented manner, and the heating temperatures of the sections are in an increasing relationship. However, the heating method of the heating unit 300 is not particularly limited in the present invention, and the coarse-grained metal powder 800 may be heated to a state where it starts to melt. In addition, the height and the energy of the heating area of the heating assembly can be respectively adjusted according to different metal powder materials and different particle sizes. Thereby allowing the coarse-grained metal powder 800 to be heated accurately and rapidly in a state of starting to melt.
In one embodiment, the heated coarse-grained metal powder 800 is separated from the solid inner portion 810 by blowing inert gas at a pressure of 3 to 8MPa and a velocity of 50 to 800m/s through the inert gas supply system 500. The pressure and velocity of the inert gas blown by the inert gas supply system 500 are adjusted to accommodate various types of coarse-grained metal powder.
In one embodiment, a vacuum environment is provided by the vacuum system 400 prior to the protective atmosphere being provided by the inert gas supply system 500. Since the coarse-grained metal powder 800 is easily reacted with other active gases to break the metal powder when it is heated to a state of starting melting, a protective atmosphere is provided during the heating and decomposition of the coarse-grained metal powder 800. The purity of the inert gas in the protective atmosphere can be improved by vacuumizing before the inert gas is injected and then injecting the inert gas. Specifically, the vacuum system 400 provides a vacuum environment in the atomizing chamber 100 to ensure that the ultimate vacuum degree reaches 5 × 10-3Pa。
In one embodiment, the powder feed speed of the powder feed assembly 200 and the operating power of the heating assembly are adjusted for different materials and particle sizes of the metal powder. Specifically, the powder feeding speed range can be 10-10000 g/min, and the power range of the heating assembly can be 1-1000 kW. Thereby making it possible to apply the present invention to various metal powders.
In one embodiment, the discharged fine particle size metal powder 900 is collected by the collection assembly 700 while maintaining the hermeticity of the nebulizing chamber 100. Wherein the collection assembly 700 simultaneously ensures the sealability of the atomizing chamber 100 during the process of collecting the metal powder, thereby allowing the device to continuously operate while collecting the metal powder.
Also provided in this example embodiment is a method of using an apparatus for refining a particle size of metal powder, which may include the steps of:
step 1, vacuumizing the atomization chamber 100 through a vacuum system 400 to ensure that the ultimate vacuum degree of the atomization chamber 100 reaches 5 multiplied by 10-3Pa；
Step 2, filling inert gas with the purity of more than 99.999 percent into the atomizing chamber 100 through the low-pressure gas outlet end 520 of the inert gas supply system 500 to reach the positive pressure of 0.02-0.2 Mpa, so as to meet the high-purity inert atmosphere environment of the atomizing powder-making forming process;
step 3, starting the heating assembly 300, and generating a high-temperature heating area in the heating assembly 300, wherein the heating power range of the heating assembly 300 is 1-1000 kW;
step 4, conveying a fixed amount of coarse-grain-size metal powder raw material 800 to a heating area of the heating assembly 300 at a fixed speed through the powder conveying assembly 200, wherein the powder conveying speed range is 10-10000 g/min according to different materials of the metal powder raw material and the melting speed of the external part, and the temperature field distribution of the heating assembly 300 is adjusted according to different metal powder materials and different grain sizes;
step 5, under the action of the heating assembly 300, realizing the state that the coarse-grain-size metal powder 800 starts to melt, and forming an external part 820 in a liquid state and an internal part 810 in a solid state; by contacting with the high-speed high-pressure inert gas, the solid inner part 810 is decomposed to form individual metal powder under the action of the high-speed high-pressure gas, and the liquid outer part 820 is further crushed under the action of the inert gas, so that the initial 1 piece of coarse-grain-size metal powder is finally decomposed into a plurality of pieces of fine-grain-size metal powder.
And 6, collecting the refined metal powder through a collecting assembly 700.
In an example, the TC4 metal powder prepared by the plasma rotating electrode method has the particle size range of 15-200 microns, the metal powder is sieved, the metal powder with the particle size of less than 100 microns is sealed and stored in a warehouse, and the rest metal powder with the particle size of 100-200 microns is placed in a powder conveying assembly 200 for refinement. The method comprises the following specific steps:
step 1, vacuumizing the atomization chamber 100 through a vacuum system 400 to ensure that the ultimate vacuum degree of the atomization chamber 100 reaches 5 multiplied by 10-3Pa；
Step 2, filling inert gas with the purity of more than 99.999 percent into the atomizing chamber 100 through the low-pressure gas outlet end 520 of the inert gas supply system 500 to reach the positive pressure of 0.02-0.2 Mpa, so as to meet the high-purity inert atmosphere environment of the atomizing powder-making forming process;
step 3, starting the heating assembly 300, and enabling the heating assembly 300 to generate a high-temperature heating area in a resistance heating mode, wherein the heating power of the heating assembly 300 is 20kW, the height H =50mm of the heating area, and the diameter D = phi 10 mm;
step 4, conveying a fixed amount of coarse-grain-size metal powder raw material 800 to a heating area of a heating assembly 300 at a fixed speed through a powder conveying assembly 200, wherein the powder conveying speed is 10g/min and the corresponding heating time is 0.5S according to the melting speed of the metal powder, and the temperature field distribution of the heating assembly 300 is adjusted to enable the temperature of the metal powder to reach 2000 ℃;
step 5, under the action of the heating assembly 300, realizing the state that the coarse-grain-size metal powder 800 starts to melt, and forming a liquid external part 820 and a solid internal part 810, taking the metal powder with the grain size of 200 μm as an example, the diameter range of the liquid external part 820 is 80-200 μm, and the diameter of the solid internal part 810 is 80 μm due to short heating time, at this time, under the action of gravity, the metal powder in the melting starting state falls and is separated from the heating assembly 300, and enters a high-speed inert gas action area;
step 6, adjusting a high-pressure gas outlet end 510 of the inert gas supply system 500, wherein the pressure of the output inert gas is 3Mpa, and the speed is 100 m/s; under the action of the high-speed high-pressure gas, the solid inner part 810 is decomposed to form individual metal powder, and the liquid outer part 820 is further crushed under the action of the inert gas, so that the initial 1 piece of coarse-grain-size metal powder is finally decomposed into a plurality of pieces of fine-grain-size metal powder.
And 7, collecting the refined metal powder through a collecting assembly 700.
In an example, the W metal powder prepared by the plasma rotating electrode method has the particle size range of 15-200 microns, is sieved, is sealed and stored in a warehouse after being subjected to the particle size of less than 100 microns, and the rest metal powder with the particle size of 100-200 microns is placed in a powder conveying assembly 200 for refining. The method comprises the following specific steps:
step 1, vacuumizing the atomization chamber 100 through a vacuum system 400 to ensure that the ultimate vacuum degree of the atomization chamber 100 reaches 5 multiplied by 10-3Pa；
Step 2, filling inert gas with the purity of more than 99.999 percent into the atomizing chamber 100 through the low-pressure gas outlet end 520 of the inert gas supply system 500 to reach the positive pressure of 0.02-0.2 Mpa, so as to meet the high-purity inert atmosphere environment of the atomizing powder-making forming process;
step 3, starting the heating assembly 300, and enabling the heating assembly 300 to generate a high-temperature heating area in a resistance heating mode, wherein the heating power of the heating assembly 300 is 180kW, the height H =100mm of the heating area, and the diameter D = phi 20 mm;
step 4, conveying a fixed amount of coarse-grain-size metal powder raw material 800 to a heating area of the heating assembly 300 at a fixed speed through the powder feeding assembly 200, wherein the powder feeding speed is 1000g/min and the corresponding heating time is 2S according to the melting speed of the metal powder, and adjusting the temperature field distribution of the heating assembly 300 to enable the temperature of the metal powder to reach 5000 ℃;
step 5, under the action of the heating assembly 300, realizing the state that the metal powder 800 with the coarse particle size starts to melt, and forming a liquid external part 820 and a solid internal part 810, taking the metal powder with the particle size of 200 μm as an example, the diameter range of the liquid external part 820 is 100-200 μm, and the diameter of the solid internal part 810 is 100 μm due to the short heating time, at this time, under the action of gravity, the metal powder in the state of starting to melt falls and is separated from the heating assembly 300, and enters a high-speed inert gas action area;
step 6, adjusting a high-pressure gas outlet end 510 of the inert gas supply system 500, wherein the pressure of the output inert gas is 8Mpa, and the speed is 800 m/s; under the action of the high-speed high-pressure gas, the solid inner part 810 is decomposed to form individual metal powder, and the liquid outer part 820 is further crushed under the action of the inert gas, so that the initial 1 piece of coarse-grain-size metal powder is finally decomposed into a plurality of pieces of fine-grain-size metal powder.
And 7, collecting the refined metal powder through a collecting assembly 700.
It is to be understood that the terms "central," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," and the like in the foregoing description are used for indicating or indicating the orientation or positional relationship illustrated in the drawings, and are used merely for convenience in describing embodiments of the present invention and for simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element so referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present invention.
Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically limited otherwise.
In the embodiments of the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," "fixed," and the like are to be construed broadly, e.g., as being fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrated; can be mechanically or electrically connected; either directly or indirectly through intervening media, either internally or in any other relationship. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.
In embodiments of the invention, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the first feature "on" or "under" the second feature may comprise the first and second features being in direct contact, or the first and second features being in contact, not directly, but via another feature therebetween. Also, the first feature being "on," "above" and "over" the second feature includes the first feature being directly on and obliquely above the second feature, or merely indicating that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature includes the first feature being directly under and obliquely below the second feature, or simply meaning that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.
In the description herein, references to the description of the term "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above are not necessarily intended to refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, various embodiments or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by those skilled in the art.
Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.
Claims (10)
1. An apparatus for refining a particle size of a metal powder, comprising:
an atomization chamber;
the powder feeding assembly is communicated with the atomizing chamber and is used for providing the atomizing chamber with the coarse-grain-size metal powder;
a heating unit provided in a communication path between the powder feeding unit and the atomizing chamber, for heating the coarse-grained metal powder to a state where the coarse-grained metal powder starts to melt before the coarse-grained metal powder is decomposed;
an inert gas supply system in communication with the atomizing chamber, the heating assembly, the inert gas supply system decomposing the coarse-particle-size metal powder by blowing an inert gas to the heated coarse-particle-size metal powder and for providing a protective atmosphere upon heating and decomposition of the coarse-particle-size metal powder.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the powder feed assembly comprises a feed end containing the coarse-grained metal powder and a delivery end in communication with the feed end, the atomization chamber being provided with a cylindrical interface at a top thereof, the delivery end of the powder feed assembly being in communication with the atomization chamber through the cylindrical interface.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top of the atomization chamber is provided with a cylindrical port, the cylindrical port is provided with a sandwich, and the heating assembly is disposed in the sandwich of the cylindrical port.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inert gas supply system comprises an inert gas source, a low pressure gas outlet end and a high pressure gas outlet end, the inert gas source is configured to supply inert gas to the low pressure gas outlet end and the high pressure gas outlet end, the low pressure gas outlet end and the high pressure gas outlet end are both in communication with the atomizing chamber, and the high pressure gas outlet end is disposed below the heating assembly.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the heating assembly has a height ranging from 10 to 200mm, a diameter ranging from 2 to 100mm, and a power ranging from 1 to 1000 kW.
6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the height, diameter and operating power of the heating assembly are related to the material and particle size of the coarse-grained metal powder.
7. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the powder feeding speed of the powder feeding assembly is in a range of 10-10000 g/min, and is related to the operating power of the heating assembly.
8. A method for refining the particle size of metal powders using the apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising:
providing a protective atmosphere through the inert gas supply system;
providing the coarse-sized metal powder to the atomization chamber through the powder feed assembly;
heating, by the heating assembly, the coarse-grained metal powder to a state that begins to melt before the coarse-grained metal powder is decomposed in the protective atmosphere;
blowing an inert gas to the heated coarse-particle-size metal powder by the inert gas supply system in the protective atmosphere to decompose the coarse-particle-size metal powder;
wherein the coarse-grained metal powder in a state of starting to melt has an outer portion in a liquid state and an inner portion in a solid state.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the outer part in the liquid state is separated from the inner part in the solid state by blowing an inert gas having a pressure of 3 to 8Mpa and a velocity of 50 to 800m/s to the heated coarse-grained metal powder by an inert gas supply system.
10. Method according to any of claims 8 or 9, characterized in that the powder feeding speed of the powder feeding assembly and the operating power of the heating assembly are adjusted for different materials and particle sizes of the metal powder.
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| CN112091229B (en) | 2021-02-12 |
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Address after: Room 303-46, building a, Kairui, Fengcheng 12th Road, Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shaanxi 710018 Patentee after: Xi'an Sailong Additive Technology Co.,Ltd. Address before: Room 303-46, building a, Kairui, Fengcheng 12th Road, Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shaanxi 710018 Patentee before: XI'AN SAILONG METAL MATERIALS Co.,Ltd. |