COUNTER-ROTATING FLUID ATOMIZATION

Studies were conducted of the atomization of molten streams of tin injected into rapidly moving oil contained within the rim of a spinning cup. The method consisted of forcing the melt by centrifugal force through fine orifices on the perimeter of a rotating cup centered within the oil-containing cup. Efforts were directed towards determining the effects of the processing parameters on powder characteristics. Under optimum processing conditions, mean particle sizes < 10 mum were obtained in runs where >90% of the powder collected was < 30 mum. From the observations made in this study, an attempt was made to formulate a basic understanding of the interactions between the melt stream and the atomizing fluid in such processes.