An instrument for in situ characterization of powder spreading dynamics in powder-bed-based additive manufacturing processes

Luis I. Escano, Niranjan D. Parab, Qilin Guo, Minglei Qu, Kamel Fezzaa, Wes Everhart, Tao Sun, Lianyi Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

In powder-bed-based metal additive manufacturing (AM), the visualization and analysis of the powder spreading process are critical for understanding the powder spreading dynamics and mechanisms. Unfortunately, the high spreading speeds, the small size of the powder, and the opacity of the materials present a great challenge for directly observing the powder spreading behavior. Here, we report a compact and flexible powder spreading system for in situ characterization of the dynamics of the powders during the spreading process by high-speed x-ray imaging. The system enables the tracing of individual powder movement within the narrow gap between the recoater and the substrate at variable spreading speeds from 17 to 322 mm/s. The instrument and method reported here provide a powerful tool for studying powder spreading physics in AM processes and for investigating the physics of granular material flow behavior in a confined environment.

Original languageEnglish
Article number043707
JournalReview of Scientific Instruments
Volume93
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2022
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This work was funded by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies (FM&T) and the National Science Foundation (Award No. 2002840). The authors would like to thank Alex Deriy at the APS for his help on the beamline experiments. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. All data prepared, analyzed, and presented have been developed in a specific context of this work and were prepared for internal evaluation and use pursuant to that work authorized under the referenced contract. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government, any agency thereof or Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, LLC. This publication was authored by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies under Contract No. DE-NA0002839 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a nonexclusive, paid up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for the United States Government purposes.

FundersFunder number
National Science Foundation2002840
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Science
Argonne National LaboratoryDE-AC02-06CH11357, DE-NA0002839
Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies

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