Effects of powder particle charging during RF plasma spheroidisation process

¹ The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd (Necsa), Church Street West Ext, Pelindaba, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
² Department of Chemical, Metallurgical, and Material Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0185, South Africa

^* Corresponding author: milton.makhofane@necsa.co.za

Abstract

Plasma spheroidisation converts irregular shaped particles to spherical morphology. The transformation occurs rapidly due to the high temperature of the plasma. This study highlights the effects of particle charging during spheroidisation of Ti6Al4V utilising a 15 kW radio frequency (RF) inductively coupled Tekna plasma system. Particles introduced into the RF plasma system acquire an equilibrium charge below 10^-9 seconds. The determined Coulomb coupling parameters of the particle in the RF plasma indicates that the particle will form a Coulomb crystal when flowing through the plasma section.