A novel method of preparing Ti powder for 3D printing

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel method to prepare pure Ti powder for 3D printing with tailorable particle size distribution.

Design/methodology/approach

The main procedures of the present method consist of gas state reaction to synthesize TiH₂ nanoparticles, agglomeration to obtain micronscale powder particles by spray drying, and densification of particle interior by heat treatment.

Findings

The prepared Ti powder has a specific bimodal particle size distribution in a range of small sizes, good sphericity and high flowability. Particularly, this new technique is capable of controlling powder purity and adjusting particle size.

Originality/value

To the best knowledge of the authors, the approach for preparing 3D printing metallic powders from nanoparticles has not been reported in the literature so far. This work provides a novel method that is particularly applicable to prepare 3D printing metallic powders which have small initial particle sizes and high reactivity in the air.

Citation

Zhang, Y., Song, X., Wang, H. and Nie, Z. (2018), "A novel method of preparing Ti powder for 3D printing", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 1034-1039. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-07-2017-0151