Metal three-dimensional (3D) printing is an important emerging processing method in powder metallurgy. There are many successful applications of additive manufacturing. However, processing parameters such as laser power and scan speed must be manually optimized despite the development of artificial intelligence. Automatic calibration using information in an additive manufacturing database is desirable. In this study, 15 commercial pure titanium samples are processed under different conditions, and the 3D pore structures are characterized by X-ray tomography. These samples are easily classified into three categories, unmelted, well melted, or overmelted, depending on the laser energy density. Using more than 10,000 projected images for each category, convolutional neural networks are applied, and almost perfect classification of these samples is obtained. This result demonstrates that machine learning methods based on X-ray tomography can be helpful to automatically identify more suitable processing parameters.

A well-established characterization method is required in powder bed fusion (PBF) metal additive manufacturing, where metal powder is used. The characterization methods from the traditional powder metallurgy process are still being used. However, it is necessary to develop advanced methods of property evaluation with the advances in additive manufacturing technology. In this article, the characterization methods of powders for metal PBF are reviewed, and the recent research trends are introduced. Standardization status and specifications for metal powder for the PBF process which published by the ISO, ASTM, and MPIF are also covered. The establishment of powder characterization methods are expected to contribute to the metal powder industry and the advancement of additive manufacturing technology through the creation of related databases.

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• A Study on Fabrication of PCD Endmill Holder using PBF Additive Manufacturing Technology
  Min-Woo Sa, Ho-Min Son, Kyung-Hwan Park, Sang-Geun Lee, Dae-Ho Shin, Dong-Gyu Kim
  Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers.2024; 23(6): 124.     CrossRef
• Rheological Characteristic Analysis Methods and Tests of Metal Powders for PBF Additive Manufacturing
  Wan-Sik Woo, Ho-Jin Lee
  Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers.2023; 22(10): 1.     CrossRef
• Residual Stress Analysis of Additive Manufactured A356.2 Aluminum Alloys using X-Ray Diffraction Methods
  SangCheol Park, InYeong Kim, Young Il Kim, Dae-Kyeom Kim, Soong Ju Oh, Kee-Ahn Lee, Bin Lee
  Korean Journal of Metals and Materials.2023; 61(7): 534.     CrossRef
• Enhancing spreadability of hydrogenation-dehydrogenation titanium powder and novel method to characterize powder spreadability for powder bed fusion additive manufacturing
  Young Il Kim, Dae-Kyeom Kim, InYeong Kim, Sang Cheol Park, Dongju Lee, Bin Lee
  Materials & Design.2022; 223: 111247.     CrossRef

In this study, H13 tool steel sculptures are built by a metal 3D printing process at various laser scan speeds. The properties of commercial H13 tool steel powders are confirmed for the metal 3D printing process used: powder bed fusion (PBF), which is a selective laser melting (SLM) process. Commercial H13 powder has an excellent flowability of 16.68 s/50 g with a Hausner ratio of 1.25 and a density of 7.68 g/cm³. The sculptures are built with dimensions of 10 × 10 × 10 mm3 in size using commercial H13 tool steel powder. The density measured by the Archimedes method is 7.64 g/cm³, similar to the powder density of 7.68 g/cm³. The hardness is measured by Rockwell hardness equipment 5 times to obtain a mean value of 54.28 HRC. The optimum process conditions in order to build the sculptures are a laser power of 90 W, a layer thickness of 25 μm, an overlap of 30%, and a laser scan speed of 200 mm/s.

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• Spheroidization of Enamel Powders by Radio Frequency Plasma Treatment and Application to Additive Manufacturing
  Ki-Bong Kim, Dong-Yeol Yang, Yong-Jin Kim, Jungho Choe, Ji-Na Kwak, Woo-Hyung Jung
  Journal of Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute.2020; 27(5): 388.     CrossRef
• Microstructural effects on the tensile and fracture behavior of selective laser melted H13 tool steel under varying conditions
  Jungsub Lee, Jungho Choe, Junhyeok Park, Ji-Hun Yu, Sangshik Kim, Im Doo Jung, Hyokyung Sung
  Materials Characterization.2019; 155: 109817.     CrossRef
• Nano-mechanical Behavior of H13 Tool Steel Fabricated by a Selective Laser Melting Method
  Van Luong Nguyen, Eun-ah Kim, Jaecheol Yun, Jungho Choe, Dong-yeol Yang, Hak-sung Lee, Chang-woo Lee, Ji-Hun Yu
  Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A.2019; 50(2): 523.     CrossRef
• Correlation between Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of the Additive Manufactured H13 Tool Steel
  Woojin An, Junhyeok Park, Jungsub Lee, Jungho Choe, Im Doo Jung, Ji-Hun Yu, Sangshik Kim, Hyokyung Sung
  Korean Journal of Materials Research.2018; 28(11): 663.     CrossRef
• Evaluation of Strain-Rate Sensitivity of Selective Laser Melted H13 Tool Steel Using Nanoindentation Tests
  Van Luong Nguyen, Eun-ah Kim, Seok-Rok Lee, Jaecheol Yun, Jungho Choe, Dong-yeol Yang, Hak-sung Lee, Chang-woo Lee, Ji-Hun Yu
  Metals.2018; 8(8): 589.     CrossRef
• Comparison of Nano-Mechanical Behavior between Selective Laser Melted SKD61 and H13 Tool Steels
  Jaecheol Yun, Van Luong Nguyen, Jungho Choe, Dong-Yeol Yang, Hak-Sung Lee, Sangsun Yang, Ji-Hun Yu
  Metals.2018; 8(12): 1032.     CrossRef
• A study about sculpture characteristic of SKD61 tool steel fabricated by selective laser melting(SLM) process
  Jaecheol Yun, Jungho Choe, Ki-Bong Kim, Sangsun Yang, Dong-Yeol Yang, Yong-Jin Kim, Chang-Woo Lee, Chang-Woo Lee
  Journal of Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute.2018; 25(2): 137.     CrossRef

Selective laser melting (SLM) can produce a layer of a metal powder and then fabricate a three-dimensional structure by a layer-by-layer method. Each layer consists of several lines of molten metal. Laser parameters and thermal properties of the materials affect the geometric characteristics of the melt pool such as its height, depth, and width. The geometrical characteristics of the melt pool are determined herein by optical microscopy and three-dimensional bulk structures are fabricated to investigate the relationship between them. Powders of the commercially available Fe-based tool steel AISI H13 and Ni-based superalloy Inconel 738LC are used to investigate the effect of material properties. Only the scan speed is controlled to change the laser parameters. The laser power and hatch space are maintained throughout the study. Laser of a higher energy density is seen to melt a wider and deeper range of powder and substrate; however, it does not correspond with the most highly densified three-dimensional structure. H13 shows the highest density at a laser scan speed of 200 mm/s whereas Inconel 738LC shows the highest density at 600 mm/s.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  

• Microstructural effects on the tensile and fracture behavior of selective laser melted H13 tool steel under varying conditions
  Jungsub Lee, Jungho Choe, Junhyeok Park, Ji-Hun Yu, Sangshik Kim, Im Doo Jung, Hyokyung Sung
  Materials Characterization.2019; 155: 109817.     CrossRef
• Correlation between Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of the Additive Manufactured H13 Tool Steel
  Woojin An, Junhyeok Park, Jungsub Lee, Jungho Choe, Im Doo Jung, Ji-Hun Yu, Sangshik Kim, Hyokyung Sung
  Korean Journal of Materials Research.2018; 28(11): 663.     CrossRef
• Effect of Porosity on Mechanical Anisotropy of 316L Austenitic Stainless Steel Additively Manufactured by Selective Laser Melting
  Jeong Min Park, Jin Myoung Jeon, Jung Gi Kim, Yujin Seong, Sun Hong Park, Hyoung Seop Kim
  Journal of Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute.2018; 25(6): 475.     CrossRef
• Evaluation of the Accuracy of Dental Prostheses manufactured by Metal 3D Printer
  Junho Hwang, Yun-Ho Kim, Hyun-Deok Kim, Kyu-Bok Lee
  Journal of Welding and Joining.2018; 36(5): 70.     CrossRef
• A study about sculpture characteristic of SKD61 tool steel fabricated by selective laser melting(SLM) process
  Jaecheol Yun, Jungho Choe, Ki-Bong Kim, Sangsun Yang, Dong-Yeol Yang, Yong-Jin Kim, Chang-Woo Lee, Chang-Woo Lee
  Journal of Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute.2018; 25(2): 137.     CrossRef