‘Surface functionalization of hight-strength aluminium powder with ceramic nanoparticles for additive manufacturing: influence of fluidised bed processing’

There is a limited number of metal alloys, and metal-ceramic, powder, available for use in additive manufacturing (AM) processes. There is great demand to develop industrial-scale processes for producing raw material with the desired physicochemical properties for AM. Surface functionalization of metal and alloy powders offers the possibility to create novel optimised powder compositions, expand the range of materials available for AM, and improve the final properties of the components produced. The present work uses fluidised bed technology for the surface functionalization of aluminium alloy (Al2024) powders with SiC nanoparticles. Stable aqueous SiC nanoparticle colloidal suspensions were produced and atomised in the fluidised bed on Al2024 particles, producing homogeneous core-shell type powder suitable for use in AM processes. The physicochemical properties of the functionalized particles, composition, density, surface area, and flow velocity, were evaluated, demonstrating that it is possible to produce powder on a large scale with the appropriate characteristics needed for AM.