Effect of gas flow rate on the characteristics of RF plasma spheroidized GH4169 alloy powder

The secondary modification of irregular GH4169 alloy powder discarded from multiple laser 3D printing by RF plasma technology. The influence mechanism of carrier gas and hydrogen flow on the effect of spheroidized powder was studied. Scanning electron microscopy, Hall flow meter, tap density tester, and laser particle size analyzer were used to analyze the morphology, fluidity, looseness ratio and particle size distribution of the powder before and after spheroidization. The results show that the larger the carrier gas flow rate, the shorter the residence time of the powder in the plasma flame, the chaotic motion, and the lower the spheroidization rate.The larger the hydrogen flow rate, the greater the heat exchange between plasma and powder per unit time, and the higher the spheroidization production efficiency. The fluidity and looseness ratio of the spheroidized GH4169 alloy powder is significantly improved, the average particle size of the powder particles increases, and the particle size distribution becomes narrow.