At electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF): A novel method for generating one single layer of powder and calculating their actual packing density with the assistance of White-light interferometry

Wednesday, May 29, 2019: 14:30
Annex Hall/F202 (Pacifico Yokohama)
Mr. Basel Alchikh-Sulaiman , McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Dr. Paul R.Carriere , RadiaBeam Technologies, Santa Monica, CA
Prof. Stephen Yue , McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Abstract

Despite the wide applications of powder metallurgy in the field of additive manufacturing AM, knowledge on spreadability of powder particles in electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) is lacking. This study provides a comprehensive literature review for powder characterization, flowability, and spreadability for AM processes. Different flowability tests are discussed in detail according to their mechanisms. Powder spreading mechanisms for different powder-bed AM are reviewed. Furthermore, a technique is proposed to study spreadability in which a single layer of powder is spread by a standard method, ‘frozen’ in the as spread condition by ‘contact sintering’ and then characterized using white-light interferometry. As a result of this technique, a standard method to calculate the powder-bed density is defined clearly, and correlations between powder-bed density and packing factor, spreadability and flowability are established. Finally, the mechanism of contact-sintering is utilized successfully as a powerful tool to differentiate between powder lots according to their packing density values.

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