Ames Lab: atomizer at 3.400°C for refractory powders

Ames National Laboratory installs an atomizer for refractory metal powders up to 3,400 °C

The US Department of Energy has installed at Ames National Laboratory a new atomization system designed to produce powders from refractory metals and alloys. The plant can process materials at temperatures up to about 3,400 °C, with a declared production rate of up to 1 kg of atomized material per minute.

The ability to work at these temperatures represents a significant leap compared to conventional atomizers. It allows the production of powders from tungsten, molybdenum, niobium and other refractory elements, materials that have so far represented a bottleneck for research in Additive Manufacturing.

Why such high temperatures are needed

Traditional nickel and cobalt based superalloys are reaching their thermal limits. Refractory materials are needed for even more extreme applications.

The new plant was developed to support research programs on next-generation gas turbines and energy systems for nuclear fusion. In these applications, nickel and cobalt based superalloys are approaching their thermal limits.

Tungsten, molybdenum, and niobium based alloys could overcome these limitations. However, producing complex components with these materials through traditional casting, forging, and machining is extremely difficult.

The connection with 3D printing

Powder-based processes such as Laser Powder Bed Fusion and Directed Energy Deposition offer a path to complex geometries. But controlled quality powders are needed.

Many of the geometries that researchers would like to create with new refractory alloys would be almost impossible to produce with traditional methods. Powder-based processes can offer a solution for complex components.

Before qualifying a new alloy for Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Directed Energy Deposition, or other technologies, a sufficient quantity of powder is needed. Composition, particle size, and quality must be precisely controlled.

From calculations to physical powder

CALPHAD, high-throughput computation and machine learning accelerate the design of new alloys. But the transition to physical production remains an obstacle.

Modern materials research is becoming extremely fast in the design phase. CALPHAD, high-throughput computation, machine learning and artificial intelligence can analyze enormous compositional spaces and suggest new superalloys or refractory complex concentrated alloys.

The next step, however, remains physical: the material must be produced. Jordan Tiarks, a researcher at Ames Lab involved in the program, explained that some ARPA-E teams had already identified promising compositions but were facing wait times of more than a year to obtain sufficient quantities of powder.

An alloy that exists only as a thermodynamic calculation or a small button of a few grams cannot be subjected to a real Additive Manufacturing campaign. It cannot generate the specimens and demonstrators needed to evaluate its processability, mechanical properties, oxidation, and high-temperature behavior.

Impact on research

The new atomizer removes a critical obstacle: it reduces wait times from over a year to weeks, accelerating the entire materials development cycle.

The new plant creates an infrastructure that allows rapid transition from computational design to experimental validation. This is particularly relevant for ARPA-E programs and other advanced research initiatives.

The ability to produce 1 kg of powder per minute means that sufficient quantities for 3D printing tests and characterization can be generated in reasonable times. This accelerates the entire materials development cycle, from conception to qualification.

article written with the help of artificial intelligence systems