Porosity, Oxygen and Carbon Concentration in The Stainless Steel Powder Particle from a Gas Atomization and a Conduit Plasma Atomization
Sugeng Supriadi, Dharmanto, and Ario Sunar Baskoro
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia
Abstract
The comparison of porosity, oxygen and carbon concentrations in stainless steel powder particles produced from the conduit plasma atomization and the gas atomization will be discussed in this study. Where a conduit plasma atomizer can produce stainless steel particles with a more perfect spherical, there are no satellites attached to particles, but more pores than particles of stainless steel powder produced from gas atomization. On the other hand, porous stainless steel particles can be useful in making metal implants in orthopedic surgery. The modulus of elasticity and strength of stainless steel can be controlled using porous materials with various porosity to suit the strength and modulus of natural bone elasticity. SEM and EDS testing on a cross section of powder particles has been carried out to determine the characteristics of pores in 304 stainless steel powder particles. Pores of the stainless steel 304 powder particles from the gas atomization result in porosity percent, oxygen element weight percent and carbon weight percent, amounting to 6.61%, 7.4%, and 30.24% respectively, while pores on the stainless steel 304 powder particles from the conduit plasma atomization result in porosity percent, oxygen element weight percent and carbon weight percent amounting to 15.06%, 14.45%, and 28.07% respectively. So that the conduit plasma atomization is possible more suitable for producing particles with porous spherical metal powder as feed stock in metal injection molding applications compared to gas atomization.
Keywords: Porosity, Conduit Plasma atomizer, Gas Atomizer, Spherical particle, Stainless steel powder
Topic: Mechanical Engineering