Melt Atomization and Spray Forming

This research area includes the study of molten metal atomization under inert gas  using different techniques to generate particles between 10 and 2000 µm and spray deposition of different geometries (up to 100 kg of single parts). The high surface area of the droplets generated during atomization causes high cooling rates and solidification far from equilibrium. Therefore, grain sizes, segregation, and precipitation are very different from cast alloys and result in better material properties especially after deformation and heat treatment. The amount of alloying elements can be increased to create new alloys, metal matrix composites, layered and functually graded  materials.  New atomization processes are developed and analysed for the generation of metal powder and deposition processes. Thermal simulations are carried out to support the understanding of the processes and to simplify their up-scaling. Numerous experiments were carried out using different basic alloys (Sn, Al, Fe, Cu, Ni, Co, Si).