Investigation of Influence of Gas Atomization Parameters on the Granulometric Composition of Aluminum Alloy Vas1 Powder

This article is devoted to establishing regularities of the influence of gas atomization process parameters of aluminum alloy VAS1 melts on the grain size composition of the resulting powder. Seventeen iterations of atomization of melts of VAS1 alloy billets with a varied content of alloying elements, and with different operating parameters of the process are carried out. An assessment is made of the relationship between characteristics of the powder particle size distribution by weight fractions (percentage of the fraction 10–63 μm, median powder particle size, excess and asymmetry coefficients). Correlation analysis of the influence of atomization process parameters on the value of the median particle diameter, as well as the influence of controlled parameters on melt mass flow rate is conducted. The Kishidaka equation is tested to predict the median particle diameter in the process of VAS1 alloy gas atomization. Some of the powders obtained are subjected to screening in order to obtain fractions of 10–63, 30–80 and 63–100 microns to study their technological properties.