LPW commences Plasma Spheroidisation of metal powders
February 5, 2016
LPW Technology has announced that its Plasma Spheroidisation equipment is now operational and producing metal powders for use in the Additive Manufacturing industry. The process uses high energy plasma to produce cleaner, highly spherical and dense metallic powders with greater flowability, reducing down time on the machine and speeding up the manufacturing process.
“We are hugely excited to have this next generation equipment on site for the benefit of our customers. LPW are constantly reacting to solve our customer’s problems and ensure that we have the right solution to keep them on track,” stated Mike Ford, LPW’s Sales Director. “Our Plasma Spheroidisation can produce the best metal powders on the market. They are more spherical and cleaner than those currently available.”
The most significant benefit of this novel technology is perfectly spherical powder with no satellites, which increases the flowability and packing density of the powder, especially on AM machines where finer powder is required. In addition, levels of surface contamination, compared to conventional gas-atomised powders, are reduced. This has the potential to enhance mechanical properties in the finished AM component.
