Comparison the Preparation Methods of Powder Feedstock for Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Four various methods of powder feedstock preparation for laser powder bed fusion are compared. Application of commercial spherical powder leads to the formation of single-phased state. Powder mechanically alloyed during 14 minutes in air atmosphere provides conditions for the formation of double-phased state with nonuniform distribution of components in the samples. Mechanical alloying in Ar-atmosphere during 30 minutes leads to the formation of double-phased state with more uniform distribution of components and precipitations of Cr2O3. Preliminary mechanical sieving of the powder allows to produce double-phased samples with nonuniform distribution of components comparable with that in samples produced from powder mechanically alloyed during 14 minutes in air atmosphere. Microhardness of all the studied samples produced from all the studied powders was comparable. All the proposed methods of powder feedstock preparation are applicable in laser powder bed fusion depending on the required properties, elemental and phase composition of the final product.