Characterization of Water-Atomized Powder by Binder Jet 3D Printer

Gas atomized powder is used in many other 3D printing methods such as laser and binder jet methods, and has become a mainstream raw material worldwide. Epson Atmix manufactures the powder by water atomization, but there have been few studies on 3D printing using this raw material. Although water-atomized powder is inexpensive, its filling and flowability are lower than those of gas-atomized powder, and there is a problem with extensibility when the powder is spread on the surface. In order to improve the flowability and fillability required for the BJ method, we prepared our own conventional raw powder for MIM and spherical metal powder for 3D printers with improved its circularity, and investigated how the different powder shapes affect the printing characteristics such as green body density, sintered compact density and shrinkage rate.