SPHERICAL POWDERS

WOLFTEN offers spherical powders made out of metals or alloys, intended for 3D printing. The most popular materials include titanium, tungsten or molybdenum powders, as well as nickel and cobalt alloys powders. Upon request, we supply metal powders made of any metals or any alloys.

WOLFTEN’s Spherical Powders

SPHERICAL POWDER CoCrMo

WOLFTEN, spherical powder CoCrMo

CoCrMo is cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy which is a hard alloy powder with extended resistance to corrosion, oxidation and high temperatures. It is very popular for biomedical applications such as implants knee or hip joints and dental prosthetics.

SPHERICAL POWDER ALLOY 625

WOLFTEN, Powder Alloy 625

Alloy 625 is popular due to its strength and corrosion resistance. Thank to alloying elements, it shows great resistance to a wide spectrum of corrosion-evoking environments and high temperatures, including oxidation and carburizing.

SPHERICAL POWDER ALLOY 718

WOLFTEN, powder alloy 718

Alloy 718 is nickel-chromium-iron-molybdenum precipitation hardened alloy, which could be easily machined in the annealed state. It shows good mechanical properties in both short and long operating conditions and fatiugue resistance.
SPHERICAL POWDER TITANIUM GRADE 5

WOLFTEN, powder titanium 5

Ti6Al4V is alpha-beta alloy used in applications where high strength is necessary – in the aviation, power generation and mining industries. It shows a great biocompatibility and osseointegration, which makes it suitable for application where a direct contact with bone or flesh is required.
TUNGSTEN POWDERS

WOLFTEN, tungsten powders

Tungsten powders are available in multiple parameters – size, distribution of particle diameters and bulk density. Spherical tungsten powders are popular for 3D printing, but are also used for other techniques – including metal injection molding (MIM). Tungsten powders allow to produce products of complex geometry in one component with very high accuracy and precision.
MOLYBDENUM POWDERS

WOLFTEN, molybdenum powders

We supply molybdenum powders, prepared and delivered according to client’s technical requirements. We guarantee short and flexible delivery times, we work with the just-in-time inventory management strategy.

Spherical powders, use and applications

Spherical powders are commonly used in 3D printing and metal injection molding (MIM) Metal injection makes a homogeneous mixture with binders, which allows a high dimensional accuracy, however the properties of the end product are determined by both – the characteristics of the metal powder and the process of 3D printing. Size distribution and morphology have a great influence on accurate reproducibility of components. Other important factors are density, compressibility, chemical composition and sintering ability.

One of the key aspects of 3D printing using metal powders is that the particles are spherical. Proper particle size distribution is important, because is allows them to be well packed, resulting in a dense product with desired mechanical characteristics.

spherical powders 3d printing turbine rings
turbine rings

spherical powders 3d - heat exchangerspiping in heat exchangers

spherical powders 3d - rocketsliquid fuel rockets

spherical powders 3d - airplanes' componentsairplanes’ components

spherical powders 3d - hydraulic systemselements of hydraulic systems

spherical powders 3d - knee implants
hip and knee implants

spherical powders 3d - dental prosthesisdental prosthesis

spherical powders 3d - gas turbinesgas turbines

spherical powders 3d - propellerspropellers

spherical powders 3d - exhaust systemsexhaust systems

Production methods of spherical metal powders

Gas atomization
The process starts with feedstock alloy is melted in a vacuum furnace. Why vacuum? Because it allows monitoring the amount of interstitial elements in the melt. The furnace is mounted above the atomizer to allow direct discharge of the material into the chamber. Then, free falling melt is being sprayed with high pressure nitrogen or argon. That allows is to crystallize into spherical powder particles and protects against oxidation and contamination. To some extent, the particle size can be altered by changing the amount of gas sprayed onto the melt. In case of highly reactive materials, such as Ti6Al4V, there is a high risk of contamination coming from the atmosphere or crucibles. That is why, such alloys are atomized using rods. Alloy rod is put through a induction rod, which melts it. With this method, the material is not in contact with crucibles. This method is called Electrode Induction Gas Atomization (EIGA)

Plasma atomization
With this method, the material enters the atomization chamber in form of wire, which is then melted using plasma torches and immediately sprayed with inert gas. This results in highly spherical powder particles and fine size distribution (0-200 μm). A slight modification of this method is Plasma Rotating Electrode Process (PREP), which uses rods instead of wire. Fast rotating rod enters the chamber and is melted by the plasma torches in inert gas atmosphere. Discharged melt then solidifies before reaching the chamber’s walls. With this method one can achieve even finer particles (0-100 μm). Titanium alloy spherical powders are made using this methodology.