prealloyed

Prealloyed refers to a material that has been intentionally mixed and homogenized in its elemental form before being processed into its final state. This is commonly encountered in metallurgy, particularly in the production of metal powders used in applications like powder metallurgy, additive manufacturing, and welding consumables.

In the context of metal powders, prealloying means that the constituent elements of the desired alloy are melted together and solidified, then ground or atomized into fine particles. This ensures that each individual particle within the powder possesses the intended alloy composition, rather than being a mixture of individual elemental powders. This uniformity is crucial for achieving consistent material properties in the final manufactured part, such as strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance.

The alternative to prealloyed powders is admixing, where individual elemental powders are blended together. While admixing can be simpler and cheaper in some cases, it often leads to less homogeneous microstructures and potentially inferior mechanical properties in the final product. This is because diffusion and alloying only occur during subsequent high-temperature processing steps, and complete homogenization may not always be achieved. Therefore, prealloyed powders are often preferred for applications demanding high performance and predictable material behavior.