Vacuum induction melting gas atomization (VIGA) has evolved as an important production technique of superalloy powders used in additive manufacturing. However, the development of powder preparation techniques is limited because the crushing process of gas-atomized metal melt is difficult to characterize by conventional experimental methods. Herein, we report the application of computational fluid dynamics to simulate the breaking behavior of droplets in the process of preparing nickel-based superalloy powders by VIGA, as well as the results on the effect of gas pressure on the atomization process and powder particle size distribution of metal melt. In the process of primary atomization, the crushing morphology of superalloy melt shows an alternate transformation of umbrella shapes and inverted mushroom cloud shapes, and with the increase in atomization pressure, the disorder of the two-phase flow field increases, which is conducive to sufficient breakage of the melt. Most importantly, in the process of secondary atomization and with the increasing atomization pressure, the particle size distribution becomes narrower, the median particle diameter and average particle size decrease, and the decreasing trend of the particle size increases gradually. The simulation results are compliant with the performed nickel-based superalloy powder preparation tests. This study provides insight into the production and process optimization of superalloy powder prepared by the VIGA method.

Spherical powder materials are essential raw materials for manufacturing processes such as metal additive manufacturing and powder metallurgy. They possess characteristics that are key factors influencing the performance of additive manufacturing. This paper introduces the fundamental principles and characteristics of laser additive manufacturing technology and analyzes the technical principles, advantages, and disadvantages of three alloy powder preparation methods: gas atomization, centrifugal atomization, and plasma atomization. It further elucidates the influence of process parameters of these three powder preparation techniques on the characteristics of alloy powders. Finally, the development trends in alloy powder preparation for laser additive manufacturing are projected.

Inconel 690 alloy is widely used in nuclear power, petrochemical, aerospace, and other fields due to its excellent high-temperature mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. The Inconel 690 alloy with different Mo content was fabricated by laser melting deposition (LMD). The effects of Mo content on the microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. The microstructure of as-deposited Inconel 690 is composed of columnar dendrites grown epitaxially, and M₂₃C₆ carbides are precipitated in the grain boundaries. With the increase of Mo content, the amount of precipitated carbide increases gradually. At the same time, the grain boundary becomes convoluted. The tensile test at room temperature shows that the high Mo content in the as-deposited Inconel 690 increases the ultimate strength but decreases the ductility. Compared with low Mo content, the alloy with high Mo deposition has better mechanical properties. The present study provides a new method to achieve the preparation of Inconel 690 alloy with excellent integrated mechanical properties.