Abstract
The powder bed-based additive manufacturing (AM) process contains uncertainties in the powder spreading process and powder bed quality, leading to problems in repeatability and quality of the additively manufactured parts. This work focuses on identifying the uncertainty induced by particle size distribution (PSD) on powder flowability and the laser melting process, using Ti6Al4V as a model material. The flowability test results show that the effect of PSDs on flowability is not linear, rather the PSDs near dense packing ratios cause significant reductions in flowability (indicated by the increase in the avalanche angle and break energy of the powders measured by a revolution powder analyzer). The effects of PSDs on the selective laser melting (SLM) process are identified by using in-situ high-speed X-ray imaging to observe the melt pool dynamics during the melting process. The results show that the powder beds made of powders with dense packing ratios exhibit larger build height during laser melting. The effects of PSD with efficient packing on powder flowability and selective laser melting process revealed in this work are important for understanding process uncertainties induced by feedstock powders and for designing mitigation approaches.
Recommended Citation
Z. Young et al., "Effects of Particle Size Distribution with Efficient Packing on Powder Flowability and Selective Laser Melting Process," Materials, vol. 15, no. 3, article no. 705, MDPI, Feb 2022.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15030705
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Additive manufacturing; Flowability; Particle size distribution; Powder bed fusion
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1996-1944
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2022 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publication Date
01 Feb 2022
Comments
This work is funded by the Boeing Company through the Center for Aerospace Manufacturing Technology (CAMT) at Missouri University of Science and Technology, the National Science Foundation.