REC «Mekhanobr-Tekhnika» (St. Petersburg, Russia):

Samukov A. D., Head of Department, samykov_ad@mtspb.com
Cherkasova M. V., Senior Researcher, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, cherkasova_mv@mtspb.com
Kuksov M. P., Senior Researcher, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, kuksov_mp@mtspb.com
Dmitriev S. V., Chief Specialist, dmitriev_sv@mtspb.com

This paper covers the search for a new method for generating metal powders for additive manufacturing. Raw materials for 3D printing are subject to certain requirements regarding the spherical shape of the powder particles, which are not easily met. The powder preparation methods used in the powder metallurgy may not be directly used for 3D printing without additional energy consumption for the spheroidization operation. More high-tech principles of melt dispersion shall be used for the spheroidization (atomization) of powder particles. Metal waste grinding in ball or vibrating mills generally yields plate-like particles, also requiring the use of energy-intensive atomization technologies. However, an analysis of related foreign research provided an alternative that is to use two-stage grinding to obtain spherical metal powder particles. Continued research in mechanical spheroidization enables the simultaneous manufacture and grinding of the required spherical particles while maintaining practically the same energy consumption that had been previously required for the grinding process. In order to form a research program and establish the optimal grinding size in terms of energy consumption and the dependence between the ball diameter and the grinding and spheroidization results for metal particles, respective preliminary experiments were carried out. The results of these experiments were then used to formulate the conclusions required to develop a method for establishing the optimal grinding ball charge level and composition.
The study was carried out under the grant issued by the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 20-79-10125).

1. Rodionov A. I., Efimochkin I. Yu., Buiakina A. A., Letnikov M. N. The spheroidization of metallic powders (review). Aviatsionnye Materialy i Tekhnologii. 2016. No. 1. pp. 60–64.
2. Popovich A. A. Additive technologies as breakthrough solutions for creating advanced functional materials. Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov. 2020. No. 1. pp. 19–25.
3. Ageev E. V., Altukhov A. Yu., Novikov A. N. Study of the influence of the granulometric composition of electrospark cobalt-chromium powders on the physical and mechanical properties of additive products. Izvestiya Yugo-Zapadnogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. 2019. Vol. 23, No. 4. pp. 57–71.
4. Nizovtsev V. E., Klimov D. A., Stupen'kov M. I., Bredikhina E. N. Advantages of additive technologies as an alternative to traditional technologies. Proceedings of the IV International conference «Additive technologies: present and future». Moscow: VIAM, 2018. pp. 229–234.
5. Mezenin A. O., Dmitriev S. V., Cherkasova M. V. Electric separation in the practice of processing of mineral and technogenic raw materials. Materials of the International meeting «Problems and prospects of effective processing of mineral raw materials in the 21^st century (Plaksin Readings-2019)». Irkutsk, 09–14 September 2019. pp. 445–448.
6. Knyazev A. E., Vostrikov A. V. Sieving of powders additive and powder manufacturings (review). Aviatsionnye Materialy i Tekhnologii. 2020. No. 11. pp. 11–20.
7. Baskoro A. S., Supriadi S., Dharmanto Review on plasma atomizer technology for metal powder. MATEC Web of Conferences. 2019. Vol. 269. 9 p. DOI: 10.1051/matecconf/201926905004.
8. Grigoriev A. V., Razumov N. G., Popovich A. A., Samokhin A. V. Plasma spheroidization of Nb-Si-based powder alloys obtained by mechanical alloying. Nauchno-tekhnicheskie Vedomosti Sankt-Peterburgskogo Gosudarstvennogo Politekhnicheskogo Universiteta. 2017. Vol. 23, No. 1. pp. 247–255.
9. Cherkasova M., Samukov A., Goncharov I., Mezenin A. Influence of the metal chips disintegration method on the physical and mechanical properties of metal powders obtained. Vibroengineering Procedia. 2020. Vol. 32. pp. 32–37.
10. Enayati M. H., Bafandeh M. R., Nosohian S. Ball milling of stainless steel scrap chips to produce nanocrystalline powder. Journal of Materials Science. 2007. Vol. 42. pp. 2844–2848.
11. Fullenwider B., Kiani P., Schoenung J. M., Ma K. From recycled machining waste to useful powders for metal additive manufacturing. REWAS 2019. Conference proceedings. Springer, 2019. pp. 3–7.
12. Shashanka R., Chaira D. Optimization of milling parameters for the synthesis of nano-structured duplex and ferritic stainless steel powders by high energy planetary milling. Powder Technology. 2015. Vol. 278. pp. 35–45.