Low-cost powder production and recycling for additive manufacturing

增材制造（AM）领域在全球范围内呈爆炸式增长，但其采用仍然受到经济因素的限制，其中粉末成本仍然是一项重大支出，可占制造成本的20%。******本提案的目的是研究各种系统的低成本粉末制造途径及其可回收性，以生产所需的高质量am级金属粉末。McGill大学等离子体处理实验室的Tekna SY33等离子体火炬装置需要一个带有环境控制交换端口的等离子化室，以减轻制造经济障碍。******需要解决的关键科学挑战是理解和控制发生在反应等离子体和反应器自由落体部分的竞争性相互作用，以将原料颗粒转化为am级粉末。要研究的关键指标是适当的形貌，纯度水平和避免合金元素的蒸发。具体的研究项目是：(1)恢复AM级粉末的性能；(2)原位掺杂反应等离子体以控制蒸发损失；(3)使用外加剂原料生产AM级粉末；(4)使用低成本的粉末起始原料降低成本；(5)生产化学性质与传统粉末加工不相容的AM级粉末。将研究增材制造行业的大多数关键金属系统，即铝合金，钛合金，镍基高温合金和不锈钢。其他化学物质，如耐火材料和大块金属玻璃也将被研究。******将开发和培训的HQPs的技能和知识将有助于由位于蒙特利尔200公里半径内的6家主要金属粉末生产商组成的关键集群：Advanced粉末和涂料（St-Eustache）、Equisphere（渥太华）、PyroGenesis（蒙特利尔）、Quebec metal powder （Sorel）、Tekna （Sherbrooke）和5-N plus（蒙特利尔）。****** Tekna SY33等离子体源的这次升级将使其使用寿命再延长10年

The field of additive manufacturing (AM) is exploding worldwide, but its adoption is still restrained by the economics, in which powder cost remains a significant expense and can represent up to 20% of the manufacturing cost. ******The objective of this proposal is to study low-cost powder fabrication avenues for various systems and their recyclability to produce the desired and needed high quality AM-grade metal powder. The requested equipment that will mitigate this manufacturing economic hurdle is a shereodization chamber with an environment control exchange port to upgrade the Tekna SY33 plasma torch unit present in the Plasma Processing Laboratory of McGill University. ******The key scientific challenges to be tackled are to understand and control the competitive interactions occurring in the reactive plasma and the free-fall section of the reactor to transform the feedstock particles into AM-grade powders. The key metrics to be studied are adequate morphology, purity level and avoiding the evaporation of the alloying element. The specific research programs to be tackled are (1) Restoration of AM-grade powder properties, (2) In-situ doping of the reactive plasma to control evaporation losses, (3) Production of AM-grade powder using admixtures feedstock, (4) Cost reduction using low-cost powder starting feedstock, (5) Production of AM powder with chemistries incompatible with conventional powder processing. Most key metallic systems to the AM industry will be studied, i.e. Al alloys, Ti alloys, Ni-based Superalloys and stainless steels. Additional chemistries such as refractory materials and bulk metallic glasses will also be studied. ******The skill and knowledge to be developed and trained HQPs will be instrumental to the key cluster composed of 6 major metal powder producers located within a radius of 200 km of Montreal: Advanced Powders and Coatings (St-Eustache), Equisphere (Ottawa), PyroGenesis (Montreal), Quebec Metal Powder (Sorel), Tekna (Sherbrooke), and 5-N plus (Montreal). ******This upgrade of the Tekna SY33 plasma source will extend its useful life for another 10 years.**