Powder Spreading Testbed for Studying the Powder Spreading Process in Powder Bed Fusion Machines

Published

November 29, 2023

Author(s)

Justin Whiting, Eric Whitenton, Aniruddha Das, Vipin Tondare, Jason Fox, Michael McGlauflin, Alkan Donmez, Shawn P. Moylan

Abstract

The spreading of powder is an integral part of powder bed fusion-based additive manufacturing technologies; however, due to the complex nature and the number of interactions between particles, studying the powder spreading process is difficult. In order to gain insight into how the metal powder is spread in the powder bed fusion machines using a recoater, a spreading testbed is needed, which provides a method for recording the powder spreading process and characterizing the powder spread layer. The objective of this testbed is to study and try to establish fundamental relationships between bulk metal powder characteristics and powder spreading performance. Here, a fabrication of a powder spreading testbed (PST) is described. The minimum but necessary functionality of the PST has been discussed. The potential characterization methods for the powder spread layer have been proposed. This document serves as a guideline for the future development of the present testbed.

Citation

Advanced Manufacturing Series (NIST AMS) - 100-56

Report Number

100-56

NIST Pub Series

Advanced Manufacturing Series (NIST AMS)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AMS.100-56

Local Download

Keywords

laser powder bed fusion, powder spreading, powder spreadability, testbed, particle tracking, additive manufacturing

Citation

Whiting, J. , Whitenton, E. , Das, A. , Tondare, V. , Fox, J. , McGlauflin, M. , Donmez, A. and Moylan, S. (2023), Powder Spreading Testbed for Studying the Powder Spreading Process in Powder Bed Fusion Machines, Advanced Manufacturing Series (NIST AMS), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AMS.100-56, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=956611 (Accessed October 14, 2025)