Purpose

Powder bed-based additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising family of technologies for industrial applications. The purpose of this study is to provide a new metrics based on the analysis of the compaction behavior for the evaluation of flowability of AM powders.

Design/methodology/approach

In this work, a novel qualification methodology based on a camera mounted onto a commercially available tap density meter allowed to assess the compaction behavior of a selection of AM materials, both polymers and metals. This methodology automatizes the reading of the powder height and obtains more information compared to ASTM B527. A novel property is introduced, the “tapping modulus,” which describes the packing speed of a powdered material and is related to a compression/vibration powder flow.

Findings

The compaction behavior was successfully correlated with the dynamic angle of repose for polymers, but interestingly not for metals, shedding more light to the different flow behavior of these materials.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen materials, the results may lack generalizability. For example, the application of this methodology outside of AM would be interesting.

Originality/value

This paper suggests a new methodology for assessing the flowing behavior of AM materials when subjected to compression. The device is inexpensive and easy to implement in a quality assurance environment, being thus interesting for industrial applications.

中文翻译：

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用于金属和聚合物增材制造的粉末床熔融原料的压实行为

目的

基于粉末床的增材制造 (AM) 是一系列有前途的工业应用技术。本研究的目的是提供一种基于压实行为分析的新指标，用于评估 AM 粉末的流动性。

设计/方法/方法

在这项工作中，一种基于安装在市售振实密度计上的相机的新型鉴定方法允许评估一系列 AM 材料（聚合物和金属）的压实行为。与 ASTM B527 相比，该方法可自动读取粉末高度并获得更多信息。引入了一种新特性，即“振实模量”，它描述了粉末材料的填充速度，并与压缩/振动粉末流动有关。

发现

压实行为成功地与聚合物的动态休止角相关联，但有趣的是，金属并非如此，这为这些材料的不同流动行为提供了更多信息。

研究限制/影响

由于所选择的材料，结果可能缺乏普遍性。例如，在 AM 之外应用这种方法会很有趣。

原创性/价值

本文提出了一种评估 AM 材料在受到压缩时的流动行为的新方法。该设备价格低廉且易于在质量保证环境中实施，因此对工业应用很有吸引力。