See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/267768898

THE EFFECT OF ROTATING ATOMIZER GEOMETRY ON THE SAC305 LEAD-

FREE SOLDER POWDER PRODUCTION

Conference Paper · February 2016

CITATIONS READS

0 439

3 authors, including:

Sarawut Gonsrang Thawatchai Plookphol

Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg Prince of Songkla University
6 PUBLICATIONS   18 CITATIONS    40 PUBLICATIONS   133 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Fabrication of Centrifugal Atomizer for Producing Metal Power View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Sarawut Gonsrang on 02 April 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 THE EFFECT OF ROTATING ATOMIZER GEOMETRY ON THE
SAC305 LEAD-FREE SOLDER POWDER PRODUCTION

Sarawut Gonsrang1*, Thawatchai Plookphol2, Sirikul Wisutmethangoon3

1, 2
Department of Mining and Materials Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University
Hatyai 90112 Thailand
1,2
Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology at Prince of Songkla University
Hatyai 90112 Thailand
3
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University
Hatyai 90112 Thailand
*Corresponding author: sar_vg@hotmail.com

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the influence of atomizer shape and size on the characteristics of SAC305
(Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu) lead-free solder powder produced by centrifugal atomization. Two types of atomizers were
employed, the flat disc and cup shape with diameters of 30, 40 and 50 mm for each type. The atomization was carried
out at melt pouring temperature of 318°C. The molten alloy was fed by gravity through a 1.0 mm nozzle with melt
flow rate of about 63 kg/hr onto the atomizer, spinning with a speed of 20,000 rpm. The median particle size and
standard deviation of the atomized powder were decreased with increasing atomizer size. The cup-shape atomizer
gave better powder production with both smaller particle median size and standard deviation. The SEM imaging
revealed that most of the atomized powders were tear-dropped and elongated shapes.

Keywords: Centrifugal atomization, Atomizer shape, Lead-free solder, SAC305, Powder metallurgy

1. Introduction

For more than half a century, a centrifugal atomization process has been developed for powder
production since it is capable to achieve a desirable powder product with high production rate,
narrow particle size distribution range with standard deviation of 1.3-1.5 and better production
yield. Moreover, the production cost of this process is lower, comparing to water or gas
atomization process because of its lower energy consumption [1]. Tin metal powder production
has been studied by using centrifugal atomization. It was reported that the atomizer disc design,
melt feed rate and rotary speed were the influencing parameters on the atomized tin powder
characteristics, i.e. the mean particle size and distribution [2]. For a centrifugal atomizer, the
rotating atomizer disc is the most important part of the machine. The atomizer disc design
directly affects the droplet creation. The melt feed rate is another key operating parameter
resulting in different regimes or modes of melt formation. Flat disc-shape atomizers were most
commonly used; however cup or angle wall atomizers were suggested as a better alternative for
creation of finer melt droplets [3]. In the present work, we experimentally investigated the
influence of rotating atomizer geometry, such as the disc shapes and sizes on the production of
SAC305 (Sn-3.5Ag-0.5cu) lead-free solder powder.

Presenting author: sar_vg@hotmail.com

2. Experimental

2.1. Apparatus and Material

A centrifugal atomizer was designed and built for this study. It consists of 3 major units, a melt
delivery unit, an atomization unit and a vessel and powder collector unit (Fig 1). A 1.5 kilowatts
furnace used for melting metal alloys was set up on top of atomizer vessel. It was equipped with
a steel crucible and a resistive heater. A melt delivering pipe made of steel was connected the
crucible to a nozzle pipe. A replaceable nozzle cap with 1.0 mm orifice was used, corresponding
to a melt feed flow rate of about 63 kg per hour under the gravity feed. Heaters were also
installed around the melt delivery line. The temperatures of furnace, melt feed line and nozzle,
were separately controlled by their individual electronic temperature controller. The atomization
unit comprises a spinning atomizer and a high speed motor. The rotary atomizers were made of
mild steel. The speed of motor was controlled by a voltage regulator and observed by a speed
sensor. A hot air gun was installed for preheating the atomizer to prevent a premature
solidification of melt or skull formation on the atomizer. The atomizer chamber was made steel
with a diameter of 3 m and a cone section, with the total height of 2.8 m. Tin-silver-copper (Sn-
3.0Ag-0.5Cu or SAC305) lead-free soldering alloy was used for atomization. The SAC305 alloy
is a ternary alloy having a melting temperature range of 217°-218°C.

2.2. Experimental Procedure

All experiments were carried out in an air atmosphere. For each batch of experiment, about 1
kg of SAC305 bar was first melted in the steel crucible to a temperature of 318°C. The
temperature of melt was kept constant before feeding onto the atomizer. A hot air gun was used
for preheating the atomizer to a temperature of 180°C. The atomizer motor was turned on and
its speed was turned up to 20,000 rpm. The melt was then poured onto the centre of the
atomizer. The atomizing time was recorded for estimating an average melt flow rate.

Fig 1: A schematic illustrates the main components of centrifugal atomizer, (1) atomization vessel,
(2) hot air gun, (3) atomizer, (4) furnace, (5) temperature controller, (6) powder collector and (7)
atomizer speed indicator.
 (a) (b)

Fig 2: A schematic of atomizer geometry, (a) flat disc and (b) cup atomizer.

Two types of rotating atomizers, the flat disc and the cup shape (Fig 2) were used; each type has
diameter sizes of 30, 40, and 50 mm. A series of test sieves with mesh numbers of 20, 30, 50,
70, 100, 140, 200, 270, 325, 400 and 500 was used. The particle size distribution data was
plotted on a log-normal paper. The median particle size and the standard deviation were
estimated from the log-normal plot. The morphology of atomized powder was analyzed by the
scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Poor Wetting

At the beginning of this work, several batches of atomization were carried out without
preheating the atomizer prior atomization took place. The atomization was not fully
accomplished because of the poor wetting between the molten SAC305 alloy and the steel
atomizer. This phenomenon could be observed by the un-atomized metal dropped nearby the
atomizer. Theoretically, after impingement the molten metal will be forced to form a thin film
by centrifugal force and break up into a ligament when it moves close to the atomizer rim.
Ligaments are then formed into droplets continuously by surface tension. In case of poor
wetting, as we found at the beginning of the present work, the melt might not form thin film
because of the slippage. So, most of the melt just dropped off near the rotating atomizer. Some
metal was found as flake attached on the atomizer chamber wall.

(a) (b)

Fig 3: Coating atomizer disc surface with SAC305 alloy, (a) Before and (b) After.
 Fig 4: A typical premature solidification of melt or metal skull forming on the atomizer.

Only small amount of metal powder was found as large particles. This phenomenon was also
reported by Xie et al. [2] and they applied the pre-tinning atomizer to enhance the wetability. In
this work, we used the SAC305 alloy for coating on the surface of steel atomizer (Fig 3). This
successfully promoted the wetability between the SAC305 melt and the surface of atomizer.
Another sign of better wetting is an occurrence of premature solidification of melt on the
atomizer which is called as metal skull formation (Fig 4). Although a good wetting was
desirable but melt freezing on disc was also increased. The metal skull was able to cause serious
damage to the drive motor due to the unbalanced rotation. However, this problem could be
solved by a pre-heating the atomizer prior to atomization.

3.2 Powder characteristics

Fig 5 (a) and (b) show the particle size distributions of SAC305 powder produced by the flat
disc atomizer and by the cup-shape atomizer, respectively. The curves demonstrate a good
linear relation on the log-normal distribution plots [2]. The mean particle sizes are decreased
with increasing atomizer size. Theoretically, the radial acceleration force makes metal melt to
form a thin film on the atomizer and it breaks off at the rim of atomizer.

(a) (b)

Fig 5: Log-normal plots showing the particle size distribution of SAC305 powder produced by using
different atomizers, (a) flat disc and (b) cup atomizer, at the spinning speed of 20,000 rpm and the
melt flow rate of 63 kg/ hr.
 (a) (b)

Fig 6: Effect of atomizer geometry on (a) median particle size and (b) standard deviation (SD) of
SAC305 powder, where SD = d84/d50 = d50/d16 based on the log-normal distribution [6], at the
spinning speed of 20,000 rpm and the melt flow rate of 63 kg/hr.

Based on the assumption of fully wetting of melt on atomizer material, the melt arrives at the
rim of larger atomizer will break into finer droplets than using a smaller one. In fact, the
phenomenon of melt flow on spinning disc is difficult to investigate directly. However, it is
possible to be predicted by a computer simulation. It has been reported that the melt is able to
disintegrate prematurely before reaching the edge of the atomizer [3]. The median particle size
and the standard deviation of distribution are shown in Fig 6. It was observed that the median
particle size of powders produced by the flat disc and the cup shape atomizer decrease with
increasing the atomizer diameter size. Comparing at the same atomizer size, the cup shape
atomizers give a smaller median particle size and narrower standard deviation. This might be the
result from the angle wall of the cup atomizer increases the critical contact angle of melt [3]. It
has been reported by other researchers that median size could be reduced by 25% when the cup
atomizer was used [2].

3.3 Morphology of powder

The morphology of the atomized SAC305 powder was observed using the SEM images. It can
be seen in Fig 7 that most particle shapes of powder in the size range of -45 +38 and -38 +25
microns are ligament, pear and tear-drop shapes. However, the spherical shape powder is
desired for a particular application, for example the solder powder used for the electronics. In
the present study, the atomization was performed in air atmosphere; round particles was difficult
to be achieved. This might be resulted from the effect of oxygen in air to increases oxide film
on the surface of molten droplets. The oxide film increases the surface tension of melt droplets
and inhibits to the continuous disintegration of the melt. It was previously reported for the
atomization of aluminum that if the air in the atomizer chamber was pumped out first and then
filled with nitrogen gas, the atomized aluminum powder trended to be more spherical shape [4].
So, in the production of SAC305 alloy it may need an inert gas atmosphere for atomization
process to obtain a good quality powder with spherical shape and less oxygen content.
 (a) (b)

Fig 7: SEM micrographs of SAC305 powder (a) -45 +38 microns and (b) -38 +25 microns.

4. Conclusions
1. The pre-coating steel atomizer with SAC305 alloy was able to improve a wetting
between the molten alloy and the atomizer surface.
2. The preheating of atomizer prior to atomization decreases the premature solidification
or metal skull formation on the atomizer.
3. The median particle size and particle size distribution of SAC305 powders trended to be
decreased with increasing atomizer size.
4. The cup shape atomizer gave finer particle size and narrower particle size distribution.
5. It was difficult to achieve a spherical shape powder under air atmosphere atomization.
This might be resulted from the influence of oxygen which causes oxidation on the surface of
melt droplets.

5. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, Faculty
of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University for the laboratory facilities and the Center of
Excellence in Nanotechnology at Prince of Songkla University for the financial support.

6. References
1. J.J. Dunkley and D. Aderhold, “Centrifugal Atomisation of Metal Powders”, Advances in
Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials, pp. 26-31 (2007).
2. J.W. Xie, Y.Y. Zhao and J.J. Dunkley, “Effect of Processing Conditions on Powder Particle
Size and Morphology in Centrifugal Atomization of Tin”, J. Powder Metallurgy, Vol. 47, pp.
168-172 (2004).
3. Y.Y. Zhao, “Analysis of flow development in centrifugal atomization: Part II. Disintegration
of Non-fully Spreading Melt”, Modeling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering,
Vol. 12, pp. 973-983 (2004).
4. S.M. Shikhaliev, Z.I. Shikhalieva and J.J. Dunkley, “Spin Atomisation Makes Tighter, Safer
Aluminium”, Metal Powder Report, Vol. 63, pp. 28-30 (2008).

View publication stats