Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a simple, easy to implement powder delivery strategy for solid freeform fabrication (SFF) processing.Design/methodology/approachA specially designed “tower nozzle” located at the center of the processing area dispenses the feedstock powders continuously and uniformly onto the processing area, where powders accumulate progressively as a flat powder bed. During the dispensing, powders are selectively consolidated by melting and solidification using a laser beam which was scanned in a predefined pattern using a galvo‐mirror scan head.FindingsExperiments performed with AISI H13 steel show that the tower nozzle powder delivery strategy is suitable for SFF processing.Practical implicationsBoth powder delivery and laser consolidation are performed simultaneously and without interruption with simple apparatus. No powder delivery scrapers or rollers are used.Originality/valueThe main characteristics of a prototype tower nozzle and the typical processing conditions used to form thin wall AISI H13 steel shapes are presented.
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