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.

增材制造（AM）因其设计自由度和高灵活性而在过去5年获得了显着的发展势头，在金属领域的年增长率超过30%。据预测，增材制造将在未来 10 年持续快速增长，市场规模将超过 $45B。许多激光粉末床熔融工艺需要较窄尺寸范围的粉末，例如 15 至 45 微米。这给粉末生产商带来了巨大的挑战。最先进的气体雾化器，例如 Liberty Powder Metals (LPM) 的气体雾化器，只能生产约 40% 的 15-45 尺寸范围的粉末。对于其他雾化技术，例如等离子体旋转电极工艺（PREP），产率甚至低至10%。其他尺寸范围生产的粉末通常最终会被填埋或回收。 AM粉末的低产量不可避免地导致粉末成本较高。在LPM，我们积极追求通过使用回收材料降低原料成本来降低成本，并通过新颖的喷嘴设计提高产量。然而，迫切需要找到针对 AM 尺寸范围之外的粉末的解决方案。该项目是在与英国最大工具钢股东 Carrs Tool Steels (CTS) 讨论新型 LPM 雾化器如何使粉末金属供应链业务受益并在 Covid-19 大流行后实现更快复苏后出现的。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，而不是当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，加速采用环保净成型（PM-HIP）和增材制造制造技术。它将显着增强英国粉末金属行业的整体竞争力。