Aluminium (Aluminum) Powder Particle Size Grades: FLPA80 to FLPA2500 Selection Guide 2026
Your coating went on rough. Your AAC blocks never rose. Your additive part came out with balls instead of a clean melt.
Nine times out of ten, nobody changed your formula — they just handed you the wrong particle size.
Aluminium powder isn’t one material. It’s a family, and the single number that decides whether it works is the median particle size, usually written as D50 in micrometres (µm). At Jinhui we label our grades FLPA80, FLPA200, FLPA… all the way to FLPA2500. The digits after “FLPA” are the D50 in microns. FLPA80 is roughly 80 µm across the median particle; FLPA2500 is a coarse 2.5 mm grade.
So before you write the RFQ, the real question isn’t “which powder” — it’s “how fine, and why.”
What the number actually controls
Smaller particles behave differently from coarse ones in three ways that matter on the factory floor:
- Surface area. Halve the particle size and you roughly quadruple the surface area per kilo. That changes how fast aluminium reacts with water (AAC), how bright it burns (pyrotechnics), and how tightly it packs in a sintered part.
- Packing and flow. Fine powders flow poorly and trap air; coarse grades flow like sand and pack dense. Your feeding and dosing hardware cares about this more than you’d expect.
- Optical effect. Below about 15 µm, flakes stop reading as “metal” and start reading as a lustrous pigment. That’s the whole game for inks and coatings.
Match the grade to the job
The list below is a rule-of-thumb map by fineness tier. Exact D50, active aluminium, and impurity ceiling for each Jinhui grade are on the air-atomized, ball-milling, and fine aluminium powder pages — match the spec sheet, not the label.
| Fineness tier | Typical use | Why size matters here |
|---|---|---|
| Coarse (FLPA1000–2500) | AAC gas generation, refractory, welding compounds | Big particles release gas slowly and predictably; you want controlled, not violent, reaction |
| Medium (FLPA200–1000) | Chemical synthesis, general metallurgy, master-alloy additions | Balance of reactivity and handling; dissolves steadily in a melt |
| Fine (FLPA80–200) | Thermal spray, powder metallurgy feedstock, pigment flake | High surface area for bonding / density; flake geometry drives metallic lustre |
| Sub-fine (< FLPA80) | Conductive inks, high-end coatings, specialist pyrotechnics | Maximum surface and optical effect; needs careful handling and dosing |
A word of caution: don’t assume a finer grade is “better.” In AAC, going too fine makes the mix foam before it sets. In pyrotechnics, ultra-fine aluminium can burn too fast and spike pressure. The right grade is the one your process was tuned for — not the smallest number on the shelf.
Spherical vs flake is a separate axis
Particle size is only half the story. The same D50 can come as spherical (air-atomized) or flake (ball-milled). Spherical flows and packs; flake lays flat and reflects. If your application is about flow, density, or dissolution, lean spherical. If it’s about lustre, coverage, or gas barrier, you want flake. We cover that split in our fine vs spherical selection guide.
What it costs, and why finer costs more
Pricing tracks two things: the underlying metal and the work to make it that fine.
Atomized aluminium in small lots runs about $6–12/kg (our 988 price guide anchors this to LME aluminium at roughly $3/kg plus atomization and milling). Each extra milling pass to push the D50 down adds energy, screening losses, and yield drop — so a sub-fine grade can run well above the coarse baseline. For a firm number on your grade and volume, ask for a quote; powder price moves more than billet because fineness and MOQ swing it so hard.
Before you send that RFQ
Save a round of emails. Tell us:
- Target D50 and the full size distribution you need (not just “fine”)
- Shape — spherical or flake
- Active aluminium and any impurity ceiling (Fe, Cu, Si, moisture)
- Standard you’re working to (GB/T 2085.1 / 2085.2, or your own)
- Order quantity and annual volume
Send it through our contact form and an engineer replies within a day.
FAQ
Q: What does FLPA80 mean exactly?
A: At Jinhui, “FLPA” is our grade-series code and the number is the median particle size (D50) in micrometres. FLPA80 ≈ 80 µm median. Always confirm the full spec on the product page rather than relying on the label alone.
Q: Is a smaller particle size always better?
A: No. Finer reacts faster and reflects more, but can foam, burn, or pack unpredictably. Match the grade to how your process was designed.
Q: Which grade do I need for AAC?
A: Usually a coarser grade (FLPA1000–2500 range) for controlled gas generation. Too fine foams before the mix sets.
Q: Do you supply sub-fine grades for inks and coatings?
A: Yes — our fine-aluminium line covers the flake grades used in pigments and conductive inks. Exact D50 and flake geometry are on the product page.
Q: How is price affected by particle size?
A: Finer costs more per kilo because each milling pass adds energy, screening loss, and yield drop. Coarse grades sit closest to the LME aluminium base price.
Order the aluminium powder grade you need
- fine aluminium powder FLPA grades — the FLPA range and typical D50 values
- ball-milled aluminium powder particle size — how ball milling controls particle size distribution
Request a quotation — send the grade, the quantity and the application, and we reply with technical data and pricing.
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