Titanium Demand on Rise for Additive Manufacturing Printing: How it’s Made? Titanium Plasma Atomization

                                                                                                                                      Link to oxygen sensors
Plasma atomization is used in many applications, including 3D printing. First developed in 1998, this technique has risen to become the industry standard process for creating reactive metal powders suitable for 3D printing. Learn how plasma atomization works and why you need an oxygen monitor to stay safe with plasma atomization. 

How Plasma Atomization Works

Plasma atomization is used not only in 3D printing, but in any circumstance where powder metallurgy is needed. Other uses include spray coating, cold spray, and metal injection molding. 
To pulverize metal, wire is fed through a tube, then hit by three plasma torches capable of reaching temperatures of 10,000 degrees Celsius. As the wire liquefies and melts, individual droplets shear off and fall into a chamber filled with argon gas and cooled by water. When the drops of metal hit the argon, they solidify into spherical droplets. This process produces a fine, uniform metal powder. After the wire has been transformed into droplets, the powder is sieved to ensure uniformity. This is key to the success of the 3D printing process, which relies upon fine grade, uniform powder. 

Titanium (Ti), Nitinol, Niobium, Aluminum, and other reactive metals and their alloys can all successfully be atomized through this process. Variables in the plasma atomization process allow workers to create droplets of different sizes, for different end uses.  

PureAire offers an oxygen analyzer, which many 3D printing manufacturers utilize. This device helps monitor the levels of oxygen in ppm, from 0 to 1000, while the atomization process takes place. 
It's important to keep oxygen levels low while the Ti and other base metals are being turned into powder, as this ensures the purity of the final product. Oxygen analyzers provide a continuous readout of oxygen levels inside the chamber, so your workers can ensure the highest levels of purity at a glance. 

Argon gas is used during plasma atomization because it helps ensure the purity of the powdered metal by reducing the chance for chemical reactions that might happen if oxygen interacted with the metal during the atomization. As long as the argon gas remains in the chamber where the aluminum or titanium powder is being made, plasma atomization is quite safe. Like other inert gases, argon depletes oxygen from the atmosphere. Were the argon gas to leak out of the plasma atomization chamber, employees' wellbeing could be at risk. 

Why You Need an Oxygen Monitor with Plasma Atomization

When argon escapes into the environment, it displaces oxygen molecules. Since the gas is both odorless and colorless, there is no way to detect an argon leak by sight or smell. If there are several atomization stations creating Ti or titanium powder at once, the risk increases exponentially. 
Once oxygen levels begin to drop, worker safety becomes a concern. If oxygen levels fall below the minimum set by OSHA, workers can suffer respiratory and cognitive impairment. Symptoms include dizziness, confusion, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Even a brief exposure to an oxygen deficient environment can prove deadly. 

Fortunately, an oxygen deficiency monitor can continually weigh oxygen present in the room, alerting staff before oxygen levels plunge below the OSHA threshold. This provides sufficient notification via flashing lights and loud alarms for staff to exit the room to safety. 

PureAire offers an oxygen monitor with a zirconium sensor. Unlike other sensors, this lasts with no maintenance and no calibration once the O₂ monitor is installed. The O₂ monitor and oxygen analyzer, when used together, allow for precise manufacturing of powdered metals with low risk to workers. Businesses prefer PureAire products, which are low-maintenance, cost-effective, and reliable for 10+ years. Visit www.pureairemonitoring.com to learn more about our oxygen analyzers and monitors. 

 

Additive Manufacturing 3D Printing: The Growth Progress and Need for Safety Monitors

 

3D printing is officially skyrocketing, with industrial applications in medical, biotech, aerospace, defense, and consumer electronics industries growing daily. At the heart of this acceleration is the additive manufacturing or AM process, which allows for easy printing from computer-aided design templates. As this new technology reaches its tipping point, review what the growth process says about the safety of 3D printing. 

3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing at a Tipping Point

No longer solely the terrain of artists and inventors making one-off products, 3D printing is finally going mainstream: Major companies including GE, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, NASA and Google have adopted 3D printing as of 2014. This widespread adoption heralds the move of 3D printing away from niche technology and toward a mainstream staple of next-generation manufacturing.
In the 3D printing process, the printer deposits layers one at a time, essentially building up the prototype before bonds the layers together. In the laser sintering process, a special laser melts and fuses the layers together, to bring the design to life. Because employees can make changes to the prototype between items, it is relatively easy to make changes to the item color, size, or shape from one printed item to the next. This makes it possible for individual medical devices or accessories to be printed from a select stock of computer-aided design (CAD) templates. 

Major companies like those mentioned above can afford to make the investment in 3D printing and AM because they have the funds to purchase the costly equipment needed for the initial foray. While 3D printers have become more widespread, they are not cheap. Compared with other types of manufacturing, it costs a lot to make something like an airplane part or a dental device using 3D printing over traditional printing. 

However, the initial expenses in 3D printing represents the peak costs to the business. After the device or the part is perfected, the company can utilize the same equipment and printing patterns to effectively mass produce the unit. Aside from ongoing expenses for printing supplies, the cost to produce subsequent parts is quite low. 

The competitive advantage of being able to offer something like a personalized medical device is well worth the initial cost of 3D printing. As printable materials continue to expand, more companies will invest in 3D printing to develop niche-appropriate custom products and solutions. This is not without its dangers to the business and its employees. Protect yourself by learning more.  

The Hidden Dangers of 3D Printing

While it may seem like a safe process -- and, indeed, the end result is quite safe -- 3D printing does utilize some potentially dangerous materials. Argon gas is particularly common in certain types of 3D printing. In the printing process, the 3D printer deposits thin layers of powder to effectively build the form that is being produced. The argon gas allows the different layers of powder to fuse together during the laser sintering, bringing the product to life in three dimensions. 

Argon is relatively inexpensive and highly effective at this task, which accounts for its widespread use in this new niche. However, argon is also a dense gas that is naturally heavier than oxygen. Were argon to escape from the 3D printing environment and enter the workshop or manufacturing floor, it would deplete the oxygen in the room. Any staff working there would thus face death by asphyxiation. Since argon is colorless and odorless, there is no easy way for staff to tell there is a problem. 

As 3D printing becomes more widespread, businesses must take the appropriate safety measures to ensure a safe working environment. They must inspect printing equipment to ensure that it is functioning properly and argon will remain contained in the printer. They must also introduce safeguards to protect staff in case of a malfunction. 

One simple and cost-effective solution is to install an oxygen monitor, which is also known as an O2 monitor. This type of sensor continually monitors the levels of oxygen in the room. If oxygen levels falls below the critical safety levels, such that employee health would be threatened, the oxygen monitor sounds an alarm to alert staff to the health threat. Staff can then evacuate immediately, and appropriate measures can be taken to secure the workplace environment and protect the printing technology.

PureAire offers sophisticated O2 monitors, which use a 10+ year no calibration sensor to offer durable everyday protection. PureAire's sensors are the perfect choice for 3D printing environment protection. To learn more about PureAire's lineup of oxygen monitor for argon gas detection, please visit http://www.pureaire.net or email us at info@pureaire.net.

Source

https://hbr.org/2015/05/the-3-d-printing-revolution

http://www.pureairemonitoring.com/argon-gas-3d-printing-stay-safe/