Developing a plasma process for fabrication of nano-engineered powders suitable for 3D printing of jewellery

开发用于制造适用于珠宝 3D 打印的纳米工程粉末的等离子工艺

• 批准号: 500238-2016
• 负责人: Ruda, Harry
• 金额: $ 6.7万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=618430
• 关键词: Developing; plasma; process; fabrication; nano

Jewellery manufacturing requires the use of expensive raw materials. Techniques, comprising predominantly of investment casting, typically employed in jewellery fabrication lead to significant waste and scrap, requiring recycling and refining to minimise the loss of raw material. The recycling of precious metals involves the use of stringent chemicals, which themselves require appropriate treatment prior to disposal, while refining may adversely affect purity and product quality. Our Ontario-based industrial partner, Platinum Unlimited, has identified that additive manufacturing techniques (3D printing) applied to jewellery manufacturing offers novel opportunities: reduction of waste and scrap material; the realisation of intricate, complex shapes not necessarily possible through current methods; increased flexibility in design; addressing the issue of porosity and metal fatigue.Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques as applied to jewellery manufacturing involves selective heating of a bed of material in powder form. The final designed product is built-up by a layer-by-layer approach. A vital component in the AM process is the generation of powder feedstock and the control of its particle size and particle size distribution. The most attractive method of producing such powder is through the use of a radio frequency (RF) inductively coupled plasma (ICP) as issues of product contamination may be avoided. A number of plasma operating parameters will lead to appropriate control of the particle size and distribution. In this proposal we study the fabrication of metal powders relevant to Platinum Unlimited, with focus on the process parameters of a RF-ICP torch that allow for control of the powder size and size distribution. The proposed project directly addresses the needs identified by our industrial partner and has the potential to be applied to other industrial fields, such as biomedical devices, healthcare equipment and aerospace.

珠宝制造需要使用昂贵的原材料。主要由熔模铸造组成的技术，通常用于珠宝制造，导致大量的浪费和废料，需要回收和精炼以尽量减少原材料的损失。贵金属的再循环涉及使用严格的化学品，这些化学品本身需要在处置之前进行适当处理，而精炼可能对纯度和产品质量产生不利影响。我们位于安大略省的工业合作伙伴Platinum Unlimited已经确定，将增材制造技术（3D打印）应用于珠宝制造提供了新的机会：减少浪费和废料；通过当前的方法不一定能实现错综复杂的形状；增加设计的灵活性；解决孔隙率和金属疲劳问题。应用于珠宝制造的增材制造（AM）技术涉及到粉末形式的材料床的选择性加热。最终设计的产品是通过一层一层的方法构建的。增材制造过程中的一个重要组成部分是粉末原料的产生及其粒度和粒度分布的控制。生产这种粉末最吸引人的方法是通过使用射频（RF）电感耦合等离子体（ICP），因为可以避免产品污染问题。一些等离子体的操作参数将导致对颗粒大小和分布的适当控制。在本提案中，我们研究了与Platinum Unlimited相关的金属粉末的制造，重点研究了RF-ICP火炬的工艺参数，该工艺参数允许控制粉末尺寸和尺寸分布。拟议的项目直接解决了我们的工业合作伙伴确定的需求，并有可能应用于其他工业领域，如生物医学设备、医疗保健设备和航空航天。