Powder characterisation techniques and effects of powder characteristics on part properties in powder-bed fusion processes

Powder-bed fusion is a class of Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes that bond successive layers of powder to facilitate the creation of parts with complex geometries. As AM technology transitions from the fabrication of prototypes to end-use parts, the understanding of the powder properties needed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Virtual and physical prototyping 2017-01, Vol.12 (1), p.3-29
Main Authors: Sutton, Austin T., Kriewall, Caitlin S., Leu, Ming C., Newkirk, Joseph W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceptability
Bonding
Lasers
material properties
Microstructure
Optimization
Particle physics
powder characterisation
powder-bed fusion
Prototyping
rapid manufacturing
Selective laser sintering
X rays
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Summary:Powder-bed fusion is a class of Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes that bond successive layers of powder to facilitate the creation of parts with complex geometries. As AM technology transitions from the fabrication of prototypes to end-use parts, the understanding of the powder properties needed to reliably produce parts of acceptable quality becomes critical. Consequently, this has led to the use of powder characterisation techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, laser light diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and differential thermal analysis to study the effect of powder characteristics on part properties. Utilisation of these powder characterisation methods to study particle morphology, chemistry, and microstructure has resulted in significant strides being made towards the optimisation of powder properties. This paper reviews methods commonly used in characterising AM powders, and the effects of powder characteristics on the part properties in powder-bed fusion processes.
ISSN:1745-2759
1745-2767
DOI:10.1080/17452759.2016.1250605