Characterization of Tantalum–Titanium Powders with Universal Powder Bed (UPB) System for Electron Beam Melting Process

Abstract

Electron beam melting (EBM) is a powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (AM) technique that produces three-dimensional (3D) parts by fusing metallic powders with a high-energy electron beam. Powder has been major issue for the properties of the final parts. Hence, establishing the effect of powder properties on the final product properties is important for producing parts of quality. In this study, Ta–60Ti, Ta–50Ti, Ta–40Ti was a blend of tantalum and titanium powders. The blend of powder was characterized in terms of the particle size distribution (PSD), bulk and tap density, flowability in Hall Funnel flowmeter and particle morphology. In addition, a universal powder bed (UPB) system was used to characterize the powder behavior raking because the UPB system allows a quick assessment of the powder spreading behavior in AM processes. Surface roughness’s of the powder after raking with universal powder bed (UPB) system, the microstructural heterogeneity, defect distributions were investigated. © 2020, Allerton Press, Inc.