LCA of titanium powder: empirical evidence vs data from patents, possible future applications

The recent increase of interest in manufacturing techniques using metal powders, including additive manufacturing (AM), metal injection moulding (MIM) and hot isostatic pressing (HIP), has made methods for manufacturing alloyed metal powders especially iron-, nickel and cobalt-based alloys, a topic of much increased importance. The ‘classical' PM sintered parts business did not attract much research interest, but the last twenty years have seen first, the advent of MIM and HIP and, more recently, AM or three-dimensional (3D) printing. These newer branches of PM make quite different demands on the metal powders that they employ. Metal powders can be produced by a range of techniques including solid-state reduction, electrolysis, atomization, chemical processes, and mechanical comminution. Among these methods, atomization and solid-state reduction are the most popular methods. Metal atomization powder production typically includes three steps: melting the raw materials, atomizing the int...