Basic Information on How Powdered Metals are Made

January 25, 2018

Powder metallurgy is a topic that most people probably aren’t intimately familiar with. Yet, here at PM Distributors we have come to know how important it is firsthand. Today’s discussion is going to be a more general topic as to how powdered metals are actually made. We’ll eventually dip a little bit into the benefits that they can offer you, but first we’ll lay down the process.

Making Powdered Metals

The first thing you need to realise is that powder metallurgy is actually a deep and advanced topic. Fortunately, we’ll be focusing on just the first step in the process — creating metal powders. Metal powders are most commonly produced in four different ways. We’ll look closely at each process while providing information as to why each process is utilised.

1) Atomisation: The first process that we will look at is atomisation. This process starts when a molten, metal stream is poured through a special container. A gas is then injected into the stream, right before it is expunged from the initial nozzle. The reason this is done is so that the molten metal can hit turbulence and spread into a rapid array of smaller droplets that freeze before they come into contact with anything. This process is used in order to develop metal powder comprised of iron, brass, bronze and other metals with lower melting points.

2) Solid-State Reduction: For this process, you’ll see your metal ore crushed and mixed with a material, most likely carbon, before being fed through a furnace. Within the furnace we will see a reaction which reduces both the carbon and the oxygen level within the powder. After this is done, we’ll see the remnants of the surviving material pushed through a special sieve in order to sort and produce the powder. There is no purity control on this process and as such you need a high-quality ore in order to get it started the right way.

3) Centrifugal Atomisation: Finally, centrifugal atomisation closes off our list. In this type of fabrication, you’ll have your molten metal pushed through a revolving, perforated container — typically some sort of tray or cylinder. The machine then rotates at varying speeds so as to separate and allow the droplets of the metal powder to form before being sorted.

High-Quality Metal Powder

As you can see, there is quite the work that goes into developing the metal powder that we so often use for our work. Powdered metal coating is the way for you to improve the value and durability of your products while keeping budget and quality at the top of your considerations. Here at PM Distributors, we can put the right powdered metal materials in your hand in order to make a difference to your projects and tasks.

Optimized by: Netwizard SEO