(1.School of Material Science and Engineering, Xihua University, Chengdu 610039, China) (2.College of Vanadium and Titanium, Panzhihua University, Panzhihua 617000, China)
At present, the market scale of 3D printing materials in China has reached 3 billion RMB, of which titanium alloy accounts for the largest proportion, reaching 20%. 3D printed titanium alloy parts are widely used in aerospace, nuclear industry, medical devices, sports equipment and other fields. Titanium alloy powder is an important metal material for 3D printing titanium alloy parts. Its properties (including oxygen content, purity, spheroidization, powder particle size, powder density, etc.) directly affect the molding performance of 3D printed titanium alloy parts. The preparation technology and process of titanium powder have become a hot spot of development and research at home and abroad. Firstly, the main methods of preparing spherical titanium powder were introduced in detail, including atomization (gas atomization, centrifugal atomization, plasma atomization), spheroidization (laser spheroidization, plasma spheroidization), granulation-sintering-deoxygenation, and the current research status at home and abroad was summarized. Then the preparation technologies were compared, and it is considered that the granulation-sintering-deoxygenation method has a great prospect because of the low cost of powder production. Finally, the preparation technology of spherical titanium powder is prospected.