Preparation of metal alloy powder by semi-solid processing

A laboratory study was carried out, using Pb–15 wt.% Sn alloy on self-made apparatus, to determine the solidification behavior of the semi-solid slurry with the solid fraction beyond 0.6. It is found that the solid–liquid separation is obvious in the samples with the solid fraction beyond 0.6. According to this character of semi-solid processing, a kind of single-crystal powder coated with Pb–Sn eutectic was made during continuous stirring and cooling processes. The analysis and discussion indicated that this approach can reduce the content of oxide and impurity in the powder