Preparation and Characterization of Spherical Nickel Silicide Powder by Inductively Coupled Plasma Spheroidization for Additive Manufacturing

Metal alloy powder with spherical-shaped morphology, high flowability, and packing density is the main requirements for metal-based additive manufacturing (AM). Among metal alloys, nickel silicide is considered as a potential candidate due to its unique properties such as high melting point, good electrical conductivity, as well as high corrosion and wear resistance. However, the fabrication of spherical nickel silicide powder has proven to be a challenging task. In the present work, spherical NiSi16 alloy powders were synthesized by inductively coupled plasma spheroidization (ICPS). The influence of the feed rate on the properties of the as-prepared powder was investigated using different analytical techniques to evaluate the particle morphology, particle size distribution, oxygen content, bulk density, fluidity, and spheroidization rate. The results showed some unique advantages of the ICPS technology in the preparation of spherical nickel silicide powder that is believed to be well suited for AM.