Investigation of spherical powder obtained by plasma spraying of wire from corrosion-resistant steel 03Kh17N10M2

At present, powder with spherical particles from corrosion-resistant steels is used in such widespread additive methods as selective laser melting, selective laser sintering, direct laser sintering, electron beam melting, and others. Each of these methods places high demands on the characteristics of the spherical particles of stainless steel powder. This article is devoted to the production of a spherical powder by plasma spraying of a wire with diameter of 1 mm from corrosion-resistant steel 03Kh17N10M2 and the study of powder characteristics on its suitability for the use in additive methods. The authors developed the technology for obtaining a spherical powder and studied the influence of spraying modes on the yield of fraction less than 160 μm, suitable for additive methods. With an increase in power and gas flow, the yield of fraction less than 160 μm increases and reaches more than 70 %. The resulting powder has high fluidity (17.6 ± 1 s), bulk density (4.15 ± 0.1 g/cm3 ) and density after tapping (4.36 ± 0.2 g/cm3 ) and is suitable for use in additive production. Influence of the spherical powder fraction on the fluidity, bulk density and density after tapping was also studied. The best characteristics were obtained for the –90 μm fraction: fluidity 16.64 ± 1 s, bulk density 4.16 ± 0.1 g/cm3 and density after tapping 4.38 ± 0.2 g/cm3. These figures meet the requirements for powders used in additive manufacturing, namely, the fluidity of 50 g of powder is less than 30 s and the bulk density is more than 3 g/cm3.