Technology

Water atomization is an industrial process in which molten metal is broken up by high-pressure water and converted into very fine powder. As the liquid metal flows down, it is forcefully sprayed with pressurized water, which instantly breaks it apart into small droplets. These droplets cool within a short period of time and solidify into solid particles. The result is a metal powder with predominantly irregular shapes and rough surfaces. This powder is well suited for use in subsequent processing stages such as compaction and sintering, which produce micro- and nano-scale components.

The advantages of this method lie in its ability to produce large quantities of powder at relatively low cost, and in the fact that the resulting powder, owing to its rough surface, has good compressibility and forms strong mechanical bonds. It is particularly effective for processing metals with high electrical and thermal conductivity, such as copper. Water-atomized metal powders are widely used in powder metallurgy, automotive parts manufacturing, electronics, the chemical industry, and certain types of 3D printing.