In the last years, the use of powder bed based additive manufacturing has increased enormously in industrial applications. In particular, the improvement of machine systems has ensured that highly reflective metals, such as copper, can be processed into dense component parts. Hence, the use of copper in additive manufacturing like laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) has risen significantly, which also has increased the request for copper powders. Therefore, production of copper and copper-alloyed powder is of high industrial relevance. In general, metal powders are mostly produced via gas atomization. The key factor for consistency in a component part is to maintain the powder properties of particle size distribution, morphology, and chemical composition. In particular, the aging behavior of copper powder is a crucial factor. Due to the high surface to volume ratio of the particles, copper powder and its alloys have a high affinity to oxygen.

This research studied the atomization process and oxidization behavior of the low-alloyed copper material CuCr1Zr.  Powder was produced from the raw material and observed with a high-speed camera during atomization. The focus of the study with respect to the oxidation behavior is based on the comparison of different powder properties before and after a heat treatment. The characterization of the copper powders included the measurement of the particle size distribution as well as the powder density and the flowability. Furthermore, the powders were metallographically prepared and characterized with analytical scanning electron microscopy in combination with EDX, EBSD, and FIB to examine pore formation, anisotropy, and precipitation formation.