China National Engineering Research Center for Powder Metallurgy of Titanium and Rare Metals,Institute of
New Materials,Guangdong Academy of Sciences,Guangzhou 510000,China)
Abstract:Titanium alloy possesses excellent properties and has been widely used in the aerospace and biomedical
fields. The paper summarized the conventional titanium alloy powder production methods. To meet the urgent market
demands for the spherical low-oxygen high-quality titanium alloy powders, the wire plasma atomization process
was studied, and the supersonic plasma torch was optimized and designed. The Ti6Al4V powder, low modulus
β-Ti2448 powder, and intermetallic compound TiAl powder were produced by the wire plasma atomization process.
In addition, the in-situ alloying occurred during the period of melting of titanium alloy by the high enthalpy
plasma jet. The plasma atomization titanium alloy powder has a spherical morphology and does not contain satellite
and pore defects. As a result, it provides a new choice for the laser additive manufacturing, electron beam additive
manufacturing, metal injection molding, and cold spraying processes.