Powder for additive manufacturing

The application spectrum of powders is wide: It ranges from the direct use of powders in chemical processes and formulations, soldering and welding, techniques for the production of layer structures (thermal spraying, PVD, screen printing) to component production, sintering techniques and generative processes, e.g. selective laser melting (SLS) or injection moulding (Powder Injection Molding PIM).

The innovation potential for powders in a wide variety of applications is high. Especially in the development and specification of powders for additive manufacturing there are still numerous tasks to be solved.

Fraunhofer UMSICHT in Sulzbach-Rosenberg can retrospect on 25 years of experience in powder metallurgy and offers a wide range of products for the development of powders and their production technology with specially developed plant and process engineering.

Fraunhofer UMSICHT mainly uses processes for melt sputtering for the production of application-adapted powders. In addition to the usual inert gas atomization, highly developed processes for atomization with hot gases and rotational atomization are also used.

Due to this variety of available process technology, powder qualities can be produced demand-oriented over a wide range of property profiles. These are mainly metal and alloy powders. In individual cases, special process modifications also enable experimental powder production from glass, ceramic or polymer melts or the production of composite powders.

The development of new, application-adapted, powdered materials is always carried out in direct dialogue with the customer. Depending on the application focus and material, suitable production methods are suggested.

Highly viscous melts, such as ceramics, are processed with hot gas. Using the method of reactive hot gas atomization, powders in the sub-µm and nano range can be produced. Gas mixtures, temperatures and pressures are used which are beyond what is possible with conventional atomization technology.

Very spherical powder particles with a narrow size distribution, on the other hand, are generated by rotational atomization. The size range can be adjusted from a few 10 µm to the mm range.

Fraunhofer UMSICHT can process test material, experimental and small batches from a few kg up to a size of approx. 250 kg.

The aim of a powder or powder alloy produced to customer specifications is usually to improve processing and application properties. Fraunhofer UMSICHT supports the development of manufacturing processes and the desired material parameters, e.g. for powders in the field of additive manufacturing.

In addition to powder production itself, Fraunhofer UMSICHT develops process concepts and process plants for powder production up to pilot maturity and evaluates production processes.

Powder development at Fraunhofer UMSICHT focuses on powder materials made of metal or metal alloys, including steels, aluminium, copper, cobalt and nickel-based alloys as well as rare earth and precious metal alloys.