SGER: A Novel Manufacturing Process for Producing Uniform Metal Particles by Magnetic Pinching

9416544 该奖项旨在研究开发一种新的制造工艺，用于生产直径，成分和微观结构均匀的球形金属颗粒。 生产金属颗粒的现有技术要么不能生产均匀尺寸的颗粒，要么即使生产均匀尺寸的颗粒，对于给定的设备也只能提供窄范围的颗粒尺寸。 将使用中等强度的时不变轴向磁场来稳定从喷嘴发出的液态金属射流。 为了使这种射流不稳定，将横向于射流轴线施加随时间变化的强磁场，以均匀的时间间隔挤压液滴。 将允许液滴球化和固化，从而产生具有均匀形状、组成和微观结构的颗粒。 一个台式实验验证的过程中提出，沿着与一个简单的模型的过程中的发展。 生产均匀金属颗粒的能力将有益于需要在微尺度上性能均匀性的各种应用。 这些包括微型仪表球轴承的滚动元件、薄的均匀防腐蚀和防氧化涂层、微筛、过滤器和孔隙率控制良好的多孔轴承。

9416544 The award is for research to develop a novel manufacturing process for producing spherical metal particles of uniform diameter, composition, and microstructure. Available techniques of producing metal particles either do not produce particles of uniform size or, if they do, offer a narrow range of particles size for a given apparatus. A time-invariant axial magnetic field of moderate intensity will be used to stabilize a liquid metal jet issuing from a nozzle. To destabilize this jet, a time-varying intense magnetic field will be applied transverse to the jet axis, pinching the droplets at uniform time intervals. The droplets will be allowed to spheroidize and solidify resulting in particles of uniform shape, composition, and microstructure. A benchtop-type experimental verification of the process is proposed, along with development of a simple model of the process. the ability to produce uniform metal particles would benefit a variety of applications that require uniformity of properties at the micro-scale. These includes rolling elements for miniature instrument ball bearings, thin uniform corrosion and oxidation prevention coatings, and microsievers, filters, and porous bearings of well-controlled porosity.