Metal powder


Metal powder is a metal that has been broken down into a powder form. Metals that can be found in powder form include aluminium powder, nickel powder, iron powder and many more. According to Belmont Metals, their design engineers are turning to metal powders because of the benefits such as cost effectiveness, versatility, and quality. There are four different ways metals can be broken down into this powder form:
  1. Direct reduction is where you blend carbon with iron oxide ore, heat it up, remove the sponge iron form the carbon, grind it, anneal it, and the regrind it to make it the powder form usable for manufacturing.
  2. Gas Atomization is where a molten metal is passed through a passage way to a gas filled chamber that cools the metal, and as it falls it is collected and annealed into a powder that is right for the customer.
  3. Liquid Atomization is similar to gas atomization but instead the metal is sprayed with high-pressure liquid which solidifies the droplets in a more rapid manner. This results in the powder being more porous, smaller, and cleaner.
  4. Centrifugal Atomization is when a metal is put into a chamber as a rod and electrically melted, at the end of the rod, to produce melted droplets that fall into another chamber and them solidified.

    Types and Uses