Flowability of Powders for Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) investigated by Round Robin Test

Abstract

Compacting and consolidation behaviour of SLS powders under motion and agitation plays an important role during SLS processing. Powder density, part density and finally the mechanical properties of the finished SLS goods are influenced from the flow characteristics of powders during movement. The paper presents a simple access to measure powder flowability by determining the bulkand tap-density (Hausner ratio) and indicates their significance by an interlaboratory test. With this very simple approach the flowability of virgin and aged SLS powders can be unambiguously distinguished.