ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | MARCH 2025 21 Breakthroughs are occurring in the collection, separation, and reprocessing of industrial scrap metals into powdered alloys. These advancements, applicable to additive manufacturing (AM), metal injection molding (MIM), cold spray, hot isostatic pressing (HIP), and other technologies, promise important benefits for manu- facturers looking to repurpose their scrap metals, shorten and secure supply chains, and achieve more “green” practices. The introduction of a single-step, plasma-assisted gas atomizer repre- sents a new take on sustainable powder technologies—offering a product carbon- footprint reduction of more than 99% compared to traditional metal powder manufacturing—according to December 2024 test results from Oregon State University’s (OSU) Department of Sustainability. This powder manufacturing-process advancement uses only scrap metals as a feedstock. No mined or virgin ores are required to meet or exceed American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)/Aerospace Material Specifications (AMS)-specifications in the final powder product. The resulting product carbon reduction and localized sourcing cycle aids manufacturers in reaching both personal and larger environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Goals and environmental standards aside, technology also aims to address material scarcity, said to have held back the AM industry, and address supply chain delays and market uncertainties. REACHING FOR ‘GREEN’ WITH RECLAIMED METALS Sustainable, advanced-plasma technology atomizes scrap alloys into ‘in spec’ powder for additive manufacturing and other industrial applications. Sunil Badwe, Continuum Powders, Houston One outcome of this series of related innovation grants and successful testing was to encourage the founding company to press on with commercial development of a small-footprint, horizontal, plasma-assisted gas atomizer that could fit and run fully operational in a shipping container, along with an AM machine. That rare mobility and dimensional orientation now makes the same system easier to ship to partners to set up with a co-location strategy where the metal scrap is produced via machining and there is an opportunity to utilize the metal powders. Metal powders can be sourced on location for on-site use. Alternatively, powder from reclaimed feedstocks as-a-service can be provided from proximally sited facilities that collect metal byproducts or unneeded oversize MILITARY ORIGINS The single-step, plasma-assisted gas atomizer studied by OSU was developed under grant AP2E-0029 from SOCOM (years 2017 to 2021) for the development of a mobile foundry for “battlefield recycling of scrap metals at point of need.” The on-field military use scenario would couple the pilot-scale, powder-production system with an equally portable AM system for the quick repair of ground vehicles and other parts. (A later grant, 80NSSC20P1915, under NASA, produced an alloy for high-temperature hypersonic applications.) The reclaimed “field” powder was tested by the military for morphology, microstructure, chemistry, particle size and mechanical properties, and passed destructive and nondestructive testing of the parts made from the powder.
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