Feedstock Powder Analysis for Additive Manufacturing Applications

Gas-atomized metallic powders are commonly used in additive manufacturing processes. While their bulk and post-process consolidated properties are widely studied, there is little research on the properties of the powders before processing.  Research has shown that, for certain AM techniques, the properties of the feedstock powder affect the properties of the consolidated material.  Understanding the powder characteristics before use in additive manufacturing could lead to fine-tuning the properties of additively manufactured materials.  This research compares the properties of four gas atomized aluminum alloy powders to their wrought counterparts in an effort to gain a comprehensive understanding of feedstock powder properties to improve effectivity of additive manufacturing processes.  Differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray diffraction, and microscopy techniques will be used.