Feasibility study of Hot Isostatic Pressing of tool steel powder with Alternative Particle size distributions (HIPAS)

不同粒度分布工具钢粉末热等静压（HIPAS）的可行性研究

• 批准号: 91818
• 金额: $ 16.63万
• 依托单位: LIBERTY POWDER METALS LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=91818
• 关键词: Feasibility; study; Hot; Isostatic; Pressing

Additive manufacturing (AM) has gained significant momentum in the past 5 years due to its freedom in design and high flexibility, with an annual growth rate over 30% in metal sectors. It was predicted the rapid growth of AM will continue for the next 10 years and reach a market size over $45B. Many laser powder bed fusion processes require powder in a narrow size range, for example from 15 to 45 microns. This creates a great challenge for powder producer. A state-of-art gas atomiser, such the one at Liberty Powder Metals (LPM), can only produce about 40% powder in the 15-45 size range. For other atomising technologies, such as plasma rotating electrode process (PREP), the yield is even as low as 10%. Powder produced in other size range often ends in landfill or recycling. The low yield in AM powder has inevitably led to high powder cost.At LPM, we are actively pursuing cost reduction by lowering feedstock cost using recycled material and yield improvement by novel nozzle design. However, there is an urgent need to find a solution for powder outside of AM size range. This project has emerged following discussions with Carrs Tool Steels (CTS), the largest tool steel stockholder in the UK, on how the new LPM's atomiser could benefit the powder metal supply chain businesses and produce a faster recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic. This project proposes a new solution using alternative powder size distribution for PM-HIP, rather than a full powder size range currently required. The success of this project will enable powder producer to reduce powder cost, accelerating the adoption of environment friendly net-shape (PM-HIP) and AM manufacturing technologies. It will significantly strengthen the overall competitiveness of UK powder metal sectors.

在过去的5年里，加法制造(AM)因其设计的自由度和高度的灵活性而获得了显著的发展势头，在金属行业中的年增长率超过30%。据预测，AM的快速增长将在未来10年持续，市场规模将超过450亿美元。许多激光粉末床熔化工艺要求粉末的尺寸范围很窄，例如15到45微米。这给粉剂生产商带来了巨大的挑战。最先进的气体雾化器，如自由粉末金属公司(LPM)的雾化器，只能生产15-45种粒度范围内约40%的粉末。对于其他雾化技术，如等离子体旋转电极法(PREP)，产率甚至低至10%。在其他尺寸范围内生产的粉末通常最终会被填埋或回收。AM粉得率低必然导致粉料成本高。在LPM，我们正在积极寻求通过使用回收材料降低原料成本和通过新颖的喷嘴设计提高产量来降低成本。然而，迫切需要找到一种解决AM尺寸范围以外的粉末的方法。这个项目是在与英国最大的工具钢库存公司CARRS Tool Steels(CTS)就新型LPM雾化器如何使粉末金属供应链业务受益并在新冠肺炎疫情后更快恢复进行讨论后产生的。该项目提出了一种新的解决方案，使用PM-HIP的替代粉末尺寸分布，而不是目前所需的完整粉末尺寸范围。该项目的成功将使粉末生产商降低粉末成本，加速采用环境友好型网状(PM-HIP)和AM制造技术。这将显著增强英国粉末金属行业的整体竞争力。