PSU: Technology of powder production from refractory and heavy alloys

2023: Technology Discovery

At the end of February 2023, Penza State University (PSU) announced the creation of a new technology for the production of powder from refractory and heavy alloys based on tungsten and tungsten carbide with spherical particles. The development can be used to import substitution of high-quality metal-cutting tools.

As Kommersant writes in its issue of February 28, 2023, high-strength metal-cutting tools are widely in demand at enterprises of mechanical engineering, the military-industrial complex, the military and aerospace industries, and instrument making, but Russia does not produce products that can compete with foreign counterparts.

In Russia, created a technology for the production of metal-cutting tools for military-industrial complex and aeroconeutics

Scientists from PSU, working to create a full cycle of metal cutting tool production, have developed a new technology. Its essence lies in the fact that the primary raw materials (heavy alloys based on tungsten carbide and heat-resistant steel) are placed in an electric arc, where a plasma channel is formed with a temperature of up to 12 thousand degrees Celsius. The material, entering this channel, melts. The melt is then sprayed by centrifugal forces. The output is a powder with spherical particles - the necessary raw materials for the manufacture of a high-quality metal cutting tool.

The obtained experimental batches of powder were tested at the University of Rostov-on-Don. Tests have shown that the particles of the samples have the required structure and chemical composition, ensuring suitability for the manufacture of parts of various purposes.

It is noted that in a powder with a spherical shape, particle sizes vary from 2 to 5 micrometers. This allows them to be used in a wide variety of fields, for example, when creating structural products (sliding bearings, high-load parts, assemblies, etc.).^[1]

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