TWI593484B - Alloy powder manufacturing equipment and methods - Google Patents

Description

Alloy powder manufacturing equipment and method

The present invention relates to an alloy powder manufacturing apparatus and method, and more particularly to an alloy powder manufacturing apparatus and method using an electrode induction melting gas atomization method (EIGA).

According to 3D printing technology, also known as laminated manufacturing technology, it is an emerging technology that is rapidly developing in the manufacturing field. The main process of production using this 3D printing technology is to apply a computer software to design a three-dimensional processing pattern, and then use a powdered solid material (such as alloy powder) by a specific molding equipment (commonly known as 3D printer). Print the product layer by layer.

Currently, Electrode Induction-melting Inert Gas Atomization (EIGA) can be used to prepare alloy powders. The method for manufacturing the titanium alloy powder is as follows: the titanium alloy raw material rod is rotated and sent to the induction coil for heating, so that the titanium alloy raw material rod is melted into the titanium alloy melt near the induction coil end, and then the titanium alloy molten soup is dropped or column After the flow pattern enters the nozzle, it is atomized by high-speed inert gas and rapidly solidified into titanium alloy powder.

However, the high-frequency coil configuration of the ALD titanium alloy powder manufacturing apparatus can only control the taper tip of the titanium alloy material rod to be melted into a titanium alloy melt, and the titanium alloy melt tends to become a drop-shaped melt soup when entering the nozzle ( Droplets), and it is not guaranteed to maintain the columnar melt (solus). If the drop-shaped titanium alloy melt is atomized by a high-speed inert gas, the quality of the titanium alloy powder after solidification is affected.

The patent literature or technical literature related to titanium alloy powder technology is as follows: For example, the Journal of Materials Research (Vol. 24, No. 1, February 2010) discloses the preparation and characterization of a high temperature titanium alloy Ti-60 powder. The Ti-60 powder doped with rare earth Nd high temperature titanium alloy was prepared by electrode induction smelting gas atomization method. The results show that the oxygen content of the alloy elements is less than 100ppm during the preparation process; the average particle size of the powder is about 100μm, the particle size distribution is normal, and the average particle size decreases with the pressure of the atomizing gas. .

However, this technical literature only reveals that in order to refine the grains and gas atomize the powder, the rare earth element Nd is added to the alloy. The technical literature does not disclose the flow control of the column melting furnace for the induction coil arrangement. And over temperature control.

Further, for example, German Patent No. DE 1963 1 582 discloses a method for obtaining a product made of alloy powders, which feeds an alloy raw material rod (electrode rod) into an induction coil to melt the tip of the alloy material rod into an alloy. The droplets are then passed into the nozzle, and the alloy droplets are rapidly atomized into an alloy powder product after being atomized by a high velocity gas.

However, the high-frequency coil arrangement disclosed in the patent document (DE19631582) can only control the tip of the alloy raw material rod to be melted into an alloy melt. When the titanium alloy melt enters the nozzle, it tends to become a drop-shaped melt soup (droplet) The patent document does not disclose the flow control and over-temperature control of the column melt at the same time for the induction coil arrangement.

For another example, ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIA L (2004, 6, No. 1-2) discloses a Powder Metallurgical Processing of Intermetall Gamma Titanium Aluminides, which will be driven by electric power. The γ-TiAl alloy raw material rod is sent to the induction coil for heating, so that the tip of the γ-TiAl alloy raw material rod is melted into a γ-TiAl alloy droplet, and then the γ-TiAl alloy droplet enters the nozzle, and the γ-TiAl alloy droplet After being atomized by high-speed gas, it is rapidly solidified into γ-TiAl alloy powder. The melting flow rate of the γ-TiAl alloy raw material rod is determined by the feeling The power of the coil and the feed rate of the γ-TiAl alloy material rod are controlled.

However, this technical document only discloses that the control of the melting flow rate of the alloy raw material rod is controlled by the power of the induction coil and the feed speed of the alloy raw material rod. The technical literature does not disclose simultaneous columnar arrangement for the induction coil arrangement. Flow control and over temperature control of the melt soup.

In view of this, there is a need to provide an alloy powder manufacturing apparatus and method for solving the above problems.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an alloy powder manufacturing apparatus which can heat an alloy raw material rod to obtain a columnar alloy melt, and cool and melt the molten soup to form an alloy powder.

To achieve the above object, the alloy powder manufacturing apparatus of the present invention comprises: an alloy raw material rod, a first-stage heating unit, a second-stage heating unit, and a nozzle. The tip of the alloy material rod is rotated and sent to the first stage heating unit for heating, and the flow rate control of the columnar alloy melt is performed to melt the tip of the alloy material rod into a columnar alloy melt. The columnar titanium alloy melt is heated by the second-stage heating unit to perform over-temperature control of the columnar alloy melt to control the temperature of the columnar alloy melt to reach a predetermined temperature. The columnar alloy melt enters the nozzle, and the columnar alloy melt is rapidly solidified into an alloy powder by impact atomization by a high-speed inert gas.

In a preferred embodiment, the first stage heating unit includes a main coil and a preheating coil, and the preheating coil is coupled to the main coil.

In a preferred embodiment, the second stage heating unit is a plasma gun.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing an alloy powder by heating an alloy raw material rod and obtaining a columnar alloy melt, thereby performing over-temperature control on the columnar alloy melt, and rapidly solidifying into an alloy by impact atomization. powder.

In order to achieve the above object, the method for producing an alloy powder of the present invention comprises the steps of: providing an alloy raw material rod; performing flow control of the columnar alloy melt to melt the tip of the alloy raw material rod into a columnar alloy melt; The over-temperature control of the columnar alloy melt is performed to control the temperature of the columnar alloy melt to reach a predetermined temperature; and the columnar alloy melt is rapidly solidified into an alloy powder by impact atomization by a high-speed inert gas.

The invention is characterized in that the flow control and the over-temperature control of the columnar alloy melt are simultaneously performed by the arrangement of the first-stage and second-stage heating units, thereby ensuring the maintenance of the columnar alloy melting (solder) type And the particle size of the alloy powder after solidification is further reduced and the roundness (spherical shape) is better.

In addition, the preheating of the alloy material rod is performed by using the preheating coil arrangement of the first stage heating unit, thereby increasing the uniformity of the columnar alloy melt (solus) and reducing the first stage heating unit. The power used by the main coil.

Furthermore, the high-temperature electric torch produced by the plasma gun is used as a secondary heating source to reheat the columnar alloy melt to increase the temperature of the columnar alloy melt, and at the same time, the pre-crushed melting column is formed into fine droplets. The particle size of the atomized alloy powder is made smaller, and the sphericity is increased to achieve the effect of refining the powder.

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the accompanying drawings.

100‧‧‧ alloy powder manufacturing equipment

110‧‧‧ alloy raw material rod

110a‧‧‧ cutting-edge

110b‧‧‧Column alloy melting soup

110c‧‧‧ alloy powder

120‧‧‧First stage heating unit

121‧‧‧main coil

122‧‧‧Preheating coil

130‧‧‧Second stage heating unit

140‧‧‧Nozzles

S201~S204‧‧‧Steps

1 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for manufacturing an alloy powder using an electrode induction melting gas atomization method (EIGA) according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart showing a method for manufacturing a titanium alloy powder according to a first embodiment of the present invention; A schematic diagram of an alloy powder manufacturing apparatus using an electrode induction smelting gas atomization method (EIGA) according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 4 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for manufacturing an alloy powder by an electrode induction melting gas atomization method (EIGA) according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for manufacturing an alloy powder by an electrode induction melting gas atomization method (EIGA) according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a method for manufacturing a titanium alloy powder according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is an alloy powder manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. The alloy powder is exemplified by a titanium alloy powder. The alloy powder manufacturing apparatus 100 includes an alloy material rod 110, a first stage heating unit 120, a second stage heating unit 130, and a nozzle 140.

The alloy raw material rod 110 is exemplified by a titanium alloy raw material rod in this embodiment. The first stage heating unit 120 is a first stage induction coil. The second stage heating unit 130 is a second stage induction coil. In this embodiment, the first and second stage heating units 120, 130 are separate heating units, and the first stage and second stage heating units 120, 130 adopt high frequency with different power and frequency. Different heating efficiencies can be achieved, and the frequency of the second-stage heating unit 130 must be greater than the frequency of the first-stage heating unit 120.

Referring to FIG. 2, a method for manufacturing an alloy powder according to the embodiment includes the following steps:

Step S201: providing an alloy raw material rod.

Step S202: performing flow control of the columnar alloy melt to melt the tip of the alloy raw material rod into a columnar alloy melt.

In detail, the tip end of the alloy material rod 110 is rotated and sent to the first stage heating unit 120 for heating, and the flow rate control of the columnar alloy melt is performed to melt the tip end 110a of the alloy material rod 110 into a columnar alloy. Melt soup.

For example, the tapered tip end 110a of the alloy material rod 110 (ie, the electrode rod) is slowly rotated by an electric drive (for example, an electric motor) and sent to the first stage heating unit 120 for heating to perform the columnar titanium alloy. Flow control of molten soup The tapered tip end 110a of the alloy material rod 110 is melted into a columnar alloy melt 110b (i.e., a columnar titanium alloy melt).

The melting flow rate of the alloy material rod 110 is controlled by the high frequency power and frequency (for example, 30 KW, 100 kHz) used by the first stage heating unit 120 (first stage induction coil) and the feed of the alloy material rod 110. The rotation speed is controlled so as to ensure that the shape of the columnar alloy melt 110b (i.e., the molten column) can be maintained.

Step S203: performing over-temperature control of the columnar alloy melt to control the temperature of the columnar alloy melt to reach a predetermined temperature.

In detail, when the columnar alloy melt 110b passes through the second-stage heating unit 130 and is heated, the columnar alloy melt 110b is subjected to over-temperature control to control the columnar alloy melt 110b. The temperature reaches a predetermined temperature.

For example, when the power and frequency of the high-frequency used in the second-stage heating unit 130 (second-stage induction coil) are 10 KW and 400 kHz, the temperature of the columnar alloy melt 110b can reach 1800 degrees Celsius. Or when the high-frequency power and frequency of the second-stage heating unit (second-stage induction coil) are 30 KW and 400 kHz, the temperature of the columnar titanium alloy melt 110b can reach 1900 degrees Celsius.

In this embodiment, the first and second stage heating units 120, 130 (the first and second stage induction coils) can achieve different heating efficiencies due to the high frequency power and frequency of the high frequency. If the size of the object to be heated is larger, the frequency required is lower, and since the size of the columnar alloy melt 110b heated by the second-stage heating unit 130 (the second-stage induction coil) is small, The frequency is higher; and since the first-stage heating unit 120 (the first-stage induction coil) heats the alloy material rod 110 to a larger size, the frequency required is lower, so that a higher heating efficiency can be achieved. Furthermore, the vertical distance between the second-stage heating unit 130 (the second-stage heating unit) and the columnar titanium alloy melt 110b is smaller than the first-stage heating unit 120 (the first-stage heating unit) and the The vertical distance of the titanium alloy material rod 110. Since the size of the columnar alloy melt 110b heated by the second-stage heating unit 130 (the second-stage induction coil) is small, the second-stage heating unit 130 (the second-stage induction coil) and the column The required vertical distance of the titanium alloy melt 110b is relatively close.

In another embodiment, the first and second stage heating units 120, 130 (the first and second stage induction coils) may be two connected heating units, the first stage and the second stage heating unit 120, 130 (the first and second stage induction coils) are high frequency waves of the same power and frequency.

Step S204: The columnar alloy melt is rapidly solidified into an alloy powder after being impact-sprayed by a high-speed inert gas.

In detail, when the columnar alloy melt 110b enters the nozzle 140, the columnar alloy melt 110b is rapidly solidified into an alloy powder 110c by impact atomization by a high-speed inert gas (for example, argon gas) (ie, titanium alloy). powder). Since the columnar alloy melt 110b is subjected to over-temperature control, the temperature rise of the columnar alloy melt 110b may cause the viscosity of the columnar alloy melt 110b to decrease, and the particle size of the solidified alloy powder 110c is further increased. It is better to reduce and roundness (spherical).

Therefore, in this embodiment, the flow control and over-temperature control of the columnar alloy melt are simultaneously performed by using the arrangement of the first-stage and second-stage heating units, and the type of the columnar alloy melt (solder) can be ensured. And the particle size of the alloy powder after solidification is further reduced and the roundness (spherical shape) is better.

3 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for manufacturing an alloy powder using an electrode induction melting gas atomization method (EIGA) according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to Figure 3 and refer to Figure 2. The alloy powder producing apparatus using the electrode induction smelting gas atomization method (EIGA) of the second embodiment of the present invention is substantially similar to the alloy powder producing apparatus using the electrode induction smelting gas atomization method (EIGA) of the first embodiment. The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that the first-stage heating unit is a first-stage induction coil, and the first-stage induction coil includes a main coil 121 and a preheating coil 122. The coil 122 is connected to the main coil 121. In this embodiment, the main coil 121 and the preheating coil 122 adopt a high frequency having the same power and frequency, and the vertical distance between the main coil 121 and the alloy material rod 110 must be smaller than the vertical distance between the preheating coil 122 and the alloy material rod 110. Since the tapered tip 110a heated by the main coil 121 is small in size, the main coil 121 is closer to the required vertical distance from the tapered tip 110a.

Therefore, in the method for producing the alloy powder shown in Fig. 2, the method further comprises the step of preheating the alloy material rod. In detail, the preheating coil 122 is used to heat the alloy material rod 110 in advance, thereby increasing the uniformity of the columnar alloy melt 110b (solus column). The main coil 121 (equivalent to the first-stage heating unit 120 of the first embodiment) heats and melts the tip end of the alloy material rod 110 to become the columnar alloy melt 110b, and the detailed heating method is as described above. I will not repeat them here.

Therefore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the preheating coil of the first-stage heating unit 120 (first-stage induction coil) is configured to preheat the alloy material rod, thereby increasing the columnar alloy melting (melting) The uniformity of the column) and the power used by the main coil of the first stage heating unit 120 (first stage induction coil) can be reduced.

4 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for manufacturing an alloy powder by an electrode induction melting gas atomization method (EIGA) according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, an alloy powder manufacturing apparatus using an electrode induction smelting gas atomization method (EIGA) according to a third embodiment of the present invention is substantially similar to the alloy using the electrode induction smelting gas atomization method (EIGA) of the first embodiment. Powder manufacturing equipment. The third embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the second stage heating unit 130 is a plasma gun.

The high-temperature electric torch produced by the plasma gun (the temperature of the edge and center of the plasma torch is between 2000 and 28000 degrees Celsius) is used as the secondary heating source, and the alloy material rod 110 is passed through the first-stage heating unit 120. The obtained columnar alloy melt 110b is heated again, except that the temperature of the columnar alloy melt 110b is increased (about 100 degrees Celsius), and the pre-crushed melting column is formed into fine droplets. Increasing the contact area of the columnar alloy melt 110b with the downstream atomizing gas, increasing the atomization efficiency, so that the atomized alloy powder 110c has a smaller particle diameter (compared to the alloy powder of the first embodiment), and simultaneously increases the sphericity. Achieve the effect of refining the powder.

In the above, it is merely described that the present invention is an embodiment or an embodiment of the technical means for solving the problem, and is not intended to limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. That is, the equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application of the present invention or the scope of the invention are covered by the scope of the invention.

100‧‧‧ alloy powder manufacturing equipment

110‧‧‧ alloy raw material rod

110a‧‧‧ cutting-edge

110b‧‧‧Column alloy melting soup

110c‧‧‧ alloy powder

120‧‧‧First stage heating unit

130‧‧‧Second stage heating unit

140‧‧‧Nozzles

Claims (11)

An alloy powder manufacturing apparatus comprises: an alloy raw material rod; a first-stage heating unit, wherein a tip end of the alloy raw material rod is rotated and sent to a first-stage heating unit for heating, and a flow control of a columnar alloy melting soup is performed , the tip of the alloy material rod is melted into the columnar alloy melt; a second-stage heating unit, wherein the columnar alloy melt is heated by the second-stage heating unit to perform the super-column alloy melting soup Temperature control to control the temperature of the columnar alloy melt to reach a predetermined temperature; and a nozzle, wherein the columnar alloy melt enters the nozzle, so that the columnar alloy melt is quickly atomized by high-speed inert gas and then rapidly Solidified into an alloy powder. The alloy powder manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first stage heating unit is a first stage induction coil. The alloy powder manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second-stage heating unit is a second-stage induction coil or a plasma gun. The alloy powder manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first-stage heating unit is a first-stage induction coil, and the second-stage heating unit is a second-stage induction coil, and the first-stage and second-stage heating are performed. The unit uses a high frequency with different power and frequency, and the frequency of the second stage heating unit must be greater than the frequency of the first stage heating unit. The alloy powder manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a vertical distance between the second-stage heating unit and the columnar titanium alloy melt is smaller than a vertical distance between the first-stage heating unit and the titanium alloy material rod. The alloy powder manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first-stage heating unit is a first-stage induction coil, and the second-stage heating unit is a second-stage induction coil, and the first-stage and second-stage heating are performed. The unit is a connected two heating unit, and the first stage and second stage heating units adopt a high frequency with the same power and frequency. The alloy powder manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first-stage heating unit is a first-stage induction coil, the first-stage heating unit includes a main coil and a preheating coil, and the preheating coil is connected to the Main coil. The alloy powder manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the main coil and the preheating coil adopt a high frequency wave having the same power and frequency, and a vertical distance between the main coil and the titanium alloy material rod is smaller than the preheating coil and The vertical distance of the titanium alloy raw material rod. The alloy powder manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second-stage heating unit is a plasma gun, and the temperature of the edge and center of the plasma torch is between 2,000 and 28,000 degrees Celsius. A method for manufacturing an alloy powder, comprising the steps of: providing an alloy raw material rod; performing flow control of a columnar alloy melt to melt a tip of the alloy raw material rod into the columnar alloy melt; and performing the columnar alloy melting The over temperature control is performed to control the temperature of the columnar alloy melt to reach a predetermined temperature; and the columnar alloy melt is rapidly solidified into an alloy powder after being impact atomized by a high velocity inert gas. The method for producing an alloy powder according to claim 10, further comprising the step of preheating the rod of the alloy material.