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Pearl Powders
EraSteel's Pearl metal powders have been developed specifically for Additive Manufacturing
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Erasteel VIM gas atomization process
The gas atomisation process helps to ensure that the metal powders have a perfectly spherical shape which is required to ensure good powder flowability and spreadability in additive manufacturing machines.
The interest surrounding metals AM has, in part, been driven by the investment community who, new to the industry are making a lot of noise about the possibilities. More quietly the development of metals AM processes has continued unabated since the early 2000s, recently companies like EOS, SLM Solutions, Concept Laser and Renishaw have been making great strides towards true production-ready technology. As ever, one of the bottlenecks is with materials — so the increase in interest from third party materials developers can only be welcomed.
One such developer is France-based Erasteel, a major player in the high-speed steels market for tooling applications where tolerance to high temperatures and wear resistance are paramount, who also offer a unique portfolio of metal powders, for the manufacturing of complex net shape parts by processes such as AM, hot isostatic pressing and metal injection moulding.
The company — which is a member of the Eramet mining and metallurgy group — has eight powder atomisation units located in Sweden, France and Spain, and is the world leading producer of spherical gas atomised powders. For additive manufacturing, Erasteel offer the range of Pearl Micro metal powders that include in particular:
— Superalloys (nickel-base or cobalt-base)
- Special steels, including stainless steels
- Other non-ferrous alloys such as copper or silver alloys.
For the additive manufacturing market, Erasteel uses the VIM (vacuum induction melting) gas atomisation process, where the metal is first molten in a vacuum chamber and then atomised in fine droplets by Nitrogen or Argon gas jets. The droplets spheroidise and cool down during their fall in the atomisation tower and they are collected at the bottom of the tower.
The gas atomisation process helps to ensure that the metal powders have a perfectly spherical shape which is required to ensure good powder flowability and spreadability in additive manufacturing machines.
Standard Pearl Micro and customised chemical compositions powders:
· Nickel-base and cobalt base superalloys: Ni 718, Ni 625, Hastelloy X, pure Ni etc.
· Stainless steels: 316L, 17-4PH, 420, etc. and other steels
· Copper-base alloys and customised metal powders containing Ag, Au, B, Be, Cu,Ga, Ge, Hf, Nb, Pt, Si, Sn, Y, Zn, Zr, etc.
Erasteel’s VIM gas atomisation process also helps in reducing oxygen content, in the case of superalloys or alloys with reactive elements, and it ensures a higher powder cleanliness.
Pearl Micro powders are sieved and processed according to customer specification, so as to be used in the various types of additive manufacturing equipment such as selective laser melting (SLM), electron beam melting (EBM) or laser metal deposition (LMD). For AM applications Erasteel offers both standard and customised chemical compositions and particle size distribution, according to users’ specifications. Markets include aerospace, energy (oil and gas, land turbines, nuclear etc.), automotive industry, as well as tooling applications. Batch sizes are suitable for Research & Development and serial production.
Adeline Riou, Erasteel’s Powder Sales and Marketing Manager explained: “Erasteel has seen tremendous growth of the interest for metal-based additive manufacturing technologies over the last two years and we are working with end users to optimise metal powders for each application. Besides this, I personally strongly support the collective efforts from the European Powder Metallurgy Association (www.epma.com), where Erasteel has initiated the launch of a new working group named EAMG (European Additive Manufacturing Group), to help develop information exchanges, education & standardization in metal-based additive manufacturing at European level, which are important to support the current shift from prototyping to series production.”
