DEM Simulation of the Powder Application in Powder Bed Fusion

Abstract

The packing behavior of powders is significantly influenced by various types of inter-particle attractive forces, including adhesion and non-bonded van der Waals forces [4, 7, 8, 19, 41, 43]. Alongside particle size and shape distributions, the inter-particle interactions, particularly frictional and adhesive forces, play a crucial role in determining the flow behavior and consequently the packing density of the powder layer. The impact of various types of attractive forces on the packing density of powders with different materials and particle size distributions remains largely unexplored and requires further investigation. Accurately comprehending these effects through experiments while considering specific particle size distributions and material properties poses significant challenges.