Authors:
Yang Tian (Monash University, Australia),
Derui Jiang (Monash University, Australia),
Xinhua Wu (Monash University, Australia)
Abstract:
Metal powder characteristics can affect the build quality of laser powder bed fusion produced (LPBF) parts. In this study, two batches of Hastelloy X powder with different powder characteristics including powder chemical compositions, morphologies, amounts of inclusions, and size distributions were compared in terms of the subsequent flowability, printing quality, and microstructures. Metal powder with irregular surface morphologies and large number of inclusions was found to be undesirable to the building quality. This was mainly attributed to the poor powder spreading quality on the build plate. Whereas metal powder with uniform circular morphology and less inclusions showed the best printing quality. Cracking issue was found in the LPBF produced HX microstructure, which was sensitive to the amount of Si, Mn and C contents.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59499/WP225366563