Preparation of TC4 Alloy Powders Used for Laser 3D Printing via EIGA Method

The preparation of TC4 alloy powders for laser 3 D printing(15~45 μm) via electrode induction melting gas atomization(EIGA) method was studied in this paper.The morphologies,phase compositions,particle size distributions,apparent densities and flowabilities of the powders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD),laser particle size analyzer(LPS) and powder comprehensive characteristics tester,respectively.Meanwhile,the effects of gas atomization pressure and melt temperature on the yield of TC4 alloy powders were studied.The results indicate that the TC4 alloy powders have nearly regular spherical morphology,with a small amount of satellite balls adhering on the surface.The powder is α'-Ti of a single phase solid solution.With the increase of atomizing gas pressure and melt temperature,the yield of TC4 alloy powders increases first and then decreases.The optimum parameters are gas atomization pressure of 5 MPa,melt temperature of 1 800℃.Under the optimized conditions,the average particle size D₅₀ is 81.2 μm,the yield of 15~45 μm powders is 22.3%,the flowability is 42.5 s(50 g),the apparent density is 2.83 g/cm³ with oxygen content of 1 260×10^-6,which meet the requirements for laser 3 D printing.