What Does
Atomized Powder Mean?
Atomized powder is a powder produced by the dispersion of a molten material into particles by a rapidly moving gas or liquid stream or by mechanical dispersion.
Atomization is the dominant method for producing metal and pre-alloyed powders from:
- Aluminum
- Brass
- Iron
- Low-alloy steels
- Stainless steels
- Tool steels
- Superalloys
Advantages of atomized powders include:
- Longer useful life/reduced lifecycle costs
- Greater wear resistance
- Superior high-temperature properties
- Increased design flexibility
- Improved machinability
Corrosionpedia Explains Atomized Powder
Atomized powders are powders produced by atomization methods. Most atomized powders are annealed, which helps reduce the oxide and carbon content.
Simple atomization techniques are available in which liquid metal is forced through an orifice at a sufficiently high velocity to ensure turbulent flow. Molten-metal injection into ambient gas can increase atomization efficiency, produce finer grains, and narrow the particle size distribution.
There are three types of atomization:
- Liquid atomization
- Gas atomization
- Centrifugal atomization
Liquid atomized particles are smaller, cleaner, and nonporous and have a greater breadth of size, which allows better compacting. The particles produced through this method are normally of spherical or pear shape. Liquid atomization is less expensive than the other methods, but its limitations are: powder purity, particle shape and surface oxygen content.
Gas atomization produces high-quality metal powders. During the gas atomization process, molten steel is atomized into fine metal droplets which cool down during their fall in the atomizing tower. Metal powders obtained by gas-atomization offer a perfectly spherical shape combined with a high cleanliness level. Gas-atomized powders are typically more spherical in geometry and possess a lower surface oxygen content than their liquid-atomized counterparts.
In centrifugal atomization, a liquid stream is dispersed into droplets by the centrifugal force of a rotating disk, cup or electrode.