A Novel Method for Making Co-Cr-Mo Alloy Spherical Powder by Granulation and Sintering

Cobalt-chrome-molybdenum (Co-Cr-Mo) alloy possesses outstanding strength, wear, and corrosion resistance and is a good material candidate for making dental and orthopedic implants. Spherical Co-Cr-Mo powder for additive manufacturing is usually costly due to the high-temperature melting processes and low yield of the powder with desirable particle size in the conventional melt-atomization process. A novel process for making spherical Co-Cr-Mo alloy powder through a simple meltless granulation and sintering process is described herein. The results indicate that the compositional segregation problem can be overcome and high-temperature operation avoided. Segregation-free powder was obtained after sintering above 1200°C. The powder was purified during sintering in a hydrogen atmosphere. The hydrogen purification mechanism is discussed with the aid of thermodynamic modeling using HSC Chemistry software. The oxygen content in the final powder can be controlled to < 0.2 wt.% for powder with particle size < 107  µ m. The final powder retained good spherical morphology.