EFFPROVIA
Contact
Increased efficiency in the LPBF process and expansion of processable powder materials by means of vibration-excited powder application tool
Motivation
Due to the high demands on flowability, only the gas-atomized powder is feasible for the LPBF process. However, the most commonly used atomisation method for the production of powder materials is water atomisation, which has a significantly lower price (up to 50%) than gas atomisation method. Besides, the powder spreading process influences the LPBF processing time and the quality of final components. In this project, a powder spreading tool will be developed to realize the usage of water atomized powder for LPBF process.
Objectives
- The development of a prototype of an ultrasonically simulated powder wiper
- The improvement of powder spreading speed by 2-3 times for conventional gas-atomized 316L powder with the utilization of the ultrasonically simulated powder wiper
- The feasibility of processing the water atomized 316L powder with poor flowability without reducing the density and mechanical properties of the produced parts
- The increasing the efficiency of the LPBF process through a combination of increased powder spreading speed and the processability of more cost-effective, water-atomised powder materials
Project contents
- Development of ultrasonically stimulated powder spreading unit and modification of test stand for coating quality
- Processing of powder under a variation of powder spreading and process parameters
- Microstructure characterisation and mechanical properties determination
- Transfer of the ultrasonically stimulated powder coater to a commercial LPBF system and construction of a demonstrator
Project partner
- Fraunhofer ILT Aachen
Grant Number: 21573 N