Laser-Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) of metallic parts is a highly multivariate process.
An understanding of powder feedstock properties is critical to ensure part quality. In this paper,
a detailed examination of two commercial stainless steel 316L powders produced using the gas
atomization process is presented. In particular, the effects of the powder properties (particle size
and shape) on the powder rheology were examined. The results presented suggest that the powder
properties strongly influence the powder rheology and are important factors in the selection of
suitable powder for use in an additive manufacturing (AM) process. Both of the powders exhibited
a strong correlation between the particle size and shape parameters and the powder rheology.
Optical microscope images of melt pools of parts printed using the powders in an L-PBF machine are
presented, which demonstrated further the significance of the powder morphology parameters on
resulting part microstructures.
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Additional Information:
This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing - Series II)
Uncontrolled Keywords:
metal additive manufacturing; powder bed fusion; powder rheology; microstructure; Stainless Steel 316L
Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership Programme, grant award number IP/2016/00422A, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under grant number 16/RC/3872, European Regional Development Fund, I-Form industry partners
ID Code:
25324
Deposited On:
07 Jan 2021 11:40 by
Robert Groarke
. Last Modified 27 May 2022 13:12