Optimisation of Stainless-steel Powder and Printing Parameters to Enhance the Densification and Productivity in Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing Process

The objective of this experimental investigation is to identify the effect of powder characteristics and printing parameters on the green density of BJT part. The study conducted has evaluated the powders with INDO-MIM engineered Particle size distribution (PSD) (D100: -60 microns), Standard AM powder PSD (D100: -25 microns) with varying particle size distributions with varied layer thickness and binder saturation. The tailor-made PSD shows a significant increase in flowability. The results show that by optimizing the particle size distribution increases the green density and helps to increase the layer thickness up to 80μm. In Standard AM powder the green density was found decreasing with increasing layer thickness, A high layer thickness led to delamination on the surface after spreading a new layer on a printed layer. In tailor made powder layer thickness increased double compared to standard AM powder with good printability and without defects. The tailor-made powder sintering shrinkage is reduced 10-11 % with ~ 99% sintered density, good mechanical properties, good dimensional consistency with high productivity.