Analysis of sensing modalities for Electrode-Induction Gas atomisation of metal powders

Electrode-Induction Gas atomisation is a crucial part of the thermal coating process, as it generates the metal powder that is used within various coating processes. A major field of analysis for powder atomisation is determining the powder yield quantity that is generated during the process. Current approaches rely on simulating the atomisation process, which fails to capture real-world physics that may interfere with the estimation of the powder yield. In this work, we outline how different sensing modalities can be used to detect the point of atomisation and how we can monitor the increasing amount of powder that is generated. Our approach covers three different kinds of sensors – contact, non-contact and visual – which can be used in parallel which each other to detect powder atomisation and collection. Using data collected from sensors attached to an Electrode-Induction Gas atomiser, we show how signal processing techniques can be used to extract information about the powder yield, thus enabling the collection of quantitative information about the powder yield. The results from analysing the signals directly link to microstructure characterisation of the generated powder which shows how sensing architectures can be used for in situ measurements of atomisation parameters. Our work demonstrates the importance of using sensors to analyse processes and demonstrates a quantitative approach to modelling the creation and yield of powder in metal atomisation, and we provide discussion topics about future directions in the field.