In recent years there has been a huge leap forward for the manufacture of titanium powder due to the prospective demand from additive manufacturing. More commmonly referred to as 3d printing the process provides an alternative approach to engineering solutions.
One in which items are “grown” rather than shaped. Where material is added and built up layer upon layer to create a finished shape rather than the traditional way of metal forming which is where metal is taken away and machined into final products.
As with any emerging field the challenge to find reliable supplier can be a key obstacle in developing the process quickly and along side is the increased regulation with respect to the handling and shipping of powder goods that have been introduced in recent years. Couple with this the touch economic climate it can be a real challenge in making engineering projects work.
At the heart of a good good supplier is experience and excellence in engineering. The know how to produce the material is extremely valuable and dictates pricing, availability and above all quality. The different types of the material are of importance. The powder can be manufactured in varying shapes and sizes with differing production technqiues used to make differing types.
For the particle shapes then the type is typically is defined as irregular or spherical with each having characteristics over there other. Typically irregular particles exhibit increased binding qualities and so are useful in spray applications. Whilst spherical particle shapes exhibit have less and so have high flow rates which is an advantage in applications such as injection moulding where increased flow rates are an advantages.
Powders are a relatively new product and still finding their feet and so far as the ASTM standards then medical powder is defined in the standard ASTM F1580 which is the specification that covers the requirements for unalloyedtitanium and Ti-6Al-4V alloy powders for use in fabricating coatings on titanium alloy implants. Another key property of particles is the size, and more specifically the size range.
Again particle size is a key factor and typicall this is set between a range size and a size distribution. One factor that determines the quality of the powder and overall engineering excellence is the tightness of distribution. The final factor is that for this metal then mesh seiving is not a permissible means of production for smaller grades and as such are specified in microns. Shaanxi North Steel Co are the world leader in titanium powder production and manufacture powder to a size of 1 micron. For all your powder requirements contact one of our sales team now.