Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference - MAMC 2020

An optimized powder atomization plant for the production of high-quality metal powder for Additive Manufacturing (AM) was developed at SMS group and set up at their 3D Competence Center in Mönchengladbach, Germany. To ensure the high quality of the powder produced, the implementation of adequate powder characterization is essential. The definition of AM process- and component-related powder characteristics and the measurement of these properties by using appropriate measuring methods is part of the powder characterization. Most measuring methods have been adopted from previous powder applications and have not been proven to be best suited for AM powders. Research at SMS shows different suitability of the measuring methods commonly used for fine LPBF powders. The results of hall flowmeter do not show correlation with the results of other methods for measuring flowability. The main disadvantage of hall flow measurement is the upper limitation of the measuring scale. It has been shown that powder with no flow in the hall flowmeter can be processed in LPBF without problems. A strict distinction between plant-related flowability and powder-bed-related flowability (spreadability) should be made since the different measuring methods do not seem to measure the same property. Comparisons of measuring methods were also made for other powder properties in order to show advantages and disadvantages of these methods. It is of great importance to better understand the powder properties, measuring methods and property limits to improve powder characterization.