PROCESS FOR PRODUCING SPHEROIDIZED POWDER FROM FEEDSTOCK MATERIALS
First Claim
1. A method for manufacturing a spheroidized powder from scrap metal or used metal parts, the method comprising:
- providing scrap metal or used metal parts comprising a material selected from the group consisting of metal, metal alloy, titanium, titanium alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, cobalt, cobalt alloy, steel, and steel alloy;
milling the scrap metal or used metal parts to produce metallic particles within a range of particle volumes pre-determined to be suitable for use as feedstock in a microwave plasma process; and
applying the microwave plasma process to the metallic particles within the determined range of particle volumes to form spheroidized powder.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed herein are embodiments of methods, devices, and assemblies for processing feedstock materials using microwave plasma processing. Specifically, the feedstock materials disclosed herein pertains to scrap materials, dehydrogenated or non-hydrogenated feed material, and recycled used powder. Microwave plasma processing can be used to spheroidize and remove contaminants. Advantageously, microwave plasma processed feedstock can be used in various applications such as additive manufacturing or powdered metallurgy (PM) applications that require high powder flowability.
21 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method for manufacturing a spheroidized powder from scrap metal or used metal parts, the method comprising:
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providing scrap metal or used metal parts comprising a material selected from the group consisting of metal, metal alloy, titanium, titanium alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, cobalt, cobalt alloy, steel, and steel alloy; milling the scrap metal or used metal parts to produce metallic particles within a range of particle volumes pre-determined to be suitable for use as feedstock in a microwave plasma process; and applying the microwave plasma process to the metallic particles within the determined range of particle volumes to form spheroidized powder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for manufacturing a spheroidized powder having a desired particle size distribution between about x and about y, wherein x represents a low end of the particle size distribution and y represents a high end of the particle size distribution, the method comprising:
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introducing metallic particles obtained by milling or crushing scrap metal or used metal parts into a microwave plasma torch, a majority of said introduced metallic particles having a volume between about 4/3 π
(x/2)3 and about 4/3 π
(y/2)3, and wherein said introduced metallic particles have a collective average or median aspect ratio between 2;
1 and 200;
1; andmelting and spheroidizing the metallic particles within the microwave plasma torch to form spheroidized powder having the desired particle size distribution of about x to about y. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for manufacturing a spheroidized powder from used powder, the method comprising:
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introducing previously used powder particles into a microwave plasma torch, the previously used powder particles comprising satellites, agglomerations, or contaminants; and melting and spheroidizing the previously used powder particles within the microwave plasma torch to form spheroidized powder particles having the agglomerations, contaminants, and satellites removed. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for producing a spheroidized powder from a feed material comprising dehydrogenated or non-hydrogenated titanium or titanium alloy, the method comprising:
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introducing a feed material comprising dehydrogenated or non-hydrogenated titanium or titanium alloy particles into a microwave plasma torch; and melting and spheroidizing the particles within a plasma generated by the microwave plasma torch to form spheroidized powder. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification