A new powder production method has been developed to speed up the search for novel alloys for additive manufacturing. The technique involves an ultrasonically agitated cold crucible installed at the top of a 20 kHz ultrasonic sonotrode. The material is melted with an electric arc and undergoes pulverization with standing wave vibrations. Several different alloys in various forms, including noble and metallic glass alloys, were chosen to test the process. The atomized particles showed exceptional sphericity, while powder output suitable for additive manufacturing reached up to 60%. The AMZ4 metallic glass powder remained amorphous below the 50 μm fraction, while tungsten addition led to crystallization in each fraction. Minor contamination and high Mn and Zn evaporation, especially in the finest particles, was observed in atomized powders. The innovative ultrasonic atomization method appears as a promising tool for material scientists to develop powders with tailored chemical composition, size and structure.

Geometrically complex objects are more and more often produced with the help of the so-called additive manufacturing commonly referred to as 3D printing. This technology proves itself to be effective in the field of medical industry due to processing potential of titanium alloys. Nonetheless 3D...

Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is one of the rapidly developing technologies for producing objects with complex geometry. This is particularly advantageous in the medical industry due to the processing potential of titanium-based biocompatible alloys. This allows the manufacture of implants with geometries that are not possible to produce with conventional methods. One of the biggest disadvantages of 3D printing is the surface of the print with high roughness and support structures that must be removed after the production process. In order to improve these parameters, mechanical processing is usually used, which is very time-consuming and does not allow the element to be processed in hard-to-reach places. The article presents an innovative method of surface finishing and removal of support structures of elements printed using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology with the use of a bath in HF / HNO3 solution assisted by ultrasound. The influence of the process parameters on the surface quality and material loss were presented, and the parameters of the fatigue strength of the printed samples were compared: as printed, after additional turning, and after using the ultrasonic surface finishing method. The results showed that with the use of the above-mentioned technology, the fatigue strength of the material increases significantly due to the reduction of surface roughness.

This study compares five Si–Me infiltration coatings, Si:Mo (1:4), Si:Ti (1:1), Si:Zr (1:5), Si:Ta (1:1), and Si:W (1:5), deposited on C/C sonotrodes for ultrasonic atomization of CuSn8. The coatings were evaluated in terms of phase constitution, microstructure, wettability, nanoindentation response, and powder-production performance. XRD showed that the coatings formed distinct multiphase reaction layers, with Si:Ta (1:1) being the most silicide-dominated system, while the other coatings contained carbide or silicide–carbide phases. Metallization strongly improved the surface wettability of C/C, especially for Si:Zr (1:5) and Si:W (1:5). Nanoindentation indicated the most favorable H/E* and H³/E*² descriptors for Si:W (1:5) and Si:Mo (1:4). All coatings enabled high powder yields in single-run atomization tests, while apparent differences in particle-size distribution were observed among the coating conditions. Overall, the results show that coating selection for ultrasonic atomization should combine phase constitution, surface-state descriptors, near-surface mechanical response, layer retention, and process performance. Within the investigated conditions and the limitation of single-run atomization experiments, Si:W (1:5) emerged as the most promising and best-balanced coating candidate, while Si:Ta (1:1) and Si:Mo (1:4) remained relevant alternatives.