Powder bed additive manufacturing allows for the production of fully customizable parts and is of great interest for industrial applications. However, the repeatability of the parts and the uniformity of the mechanical properties are still an issue. More specifically, the physical mechanism of the spreading process of the powders, which significantly affects the characteristics of the final part, is not completely understood. In powder bed fusion technologies, the spreading is performed by a device, typically a roller or a blade, that collects the powders from the feedstock and successively deposits them in a layer of several dozens of microns that is then processed with a laser beam. In this work, an experimental approach is developed and employed to study the powder spreading process and analyze in detail the motion of the powders from the accumulation zone to the deposition stage. The presented experiments are carried out on a home-made device that reproduces the spreading process and enables the measurement of the characteristics of the powder bed. Furthermore, the correlation with the process parameters, e.g., the speed of the spreading device, is also investigated. These results can be used to obtain useful insights on the optimal window for the process parameters.
Spreading of powders in powder bed additive manufacturing: An experimental approach
Trofa M.;
2021-01-01
Abstract
Powder bed additive manufacturing allows for the production of fully customizable parts and is of great interest for industrial applications. However, the repeatability of the parts and the uniformity of the mechanical properties are still an issue. More specifically, the physical mechanism of the spreading process of the powders, which significantly affects the characteristics of the final part, is not completely understood. In powder bed fusion technologies, the spreading is performed by a device, typically a roller or a blade, that collects the powders from the feedstock and successively deposits them in a layer of several dozens of microns that is then processed with a laser beam. In this work, an experimental approach is developed and employed to study the powder spreading process and analyze in detail the motion of the powders from the accumulation zone to the deposition stage. The presented experiments are carried out on a home-made device that reproduces the spreading process and enables the measurement of the characteristics of the powder bed. Furthermore, the correlation with the process parameters, e.g., the speed of the spreading device, is also investigated. These results can be used to obtain useful insights on the optimal window for the process parameters.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
