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）由于其设计的自由和高度的灵活性，在过去的5年中获得了显著的发展势头，在金属行业的年增长率超过30%。据预测，未来10年，AM的快速增长将持续下去，市场规模将超过450亿美元。许多激光粉末床熔合工艺要求粉末的尺寸范围很窄，例如从15到45微米。这给粉末生产商带来了巨大的挑战。像Liberty Powder Metals （LPM）的这种最先进的气体喷雾器，在15-45尺寸范围内只能产生约40%的粉末。对于其他雾化技术，如等离子体旋转电极工艺（PREP），收率甚至低至10%。其他尺寸范围的粉末通常被填埋或回收。增材制造粉末成品率低，必然导致粉末成本高。在LPM，我们正在积极寻求通过使用回收材料降低原料成本来降低成本，并通过新型喷嘴设计提高产量。然而，迫切需要为增材制造尺寸范围之外的粉末找到解决方案。该项目是在与英国最大的工具钢股东卡尔斯工具钢公司（CTS）就新型LPM的雾剂如何使粉末金属供应链企业受益并在2019冠状病毒病大流行后更快恢复进行讨论后出现的。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，而不是目前所需的全粉末尺寸范围。该项目的成功将使粉末生产商降低粉末成本，加速采用环保净形（PM-HIP）和AM制造技术。这将大大加强英国粉末金属行业的整体竞争力。