Powder Feeding Mechanisms in Additive Manufacturing: A Review

Additive manufacturing (AM) is also known as 3D printing, a new way of manufacturing the three-dimensional objects layer by layer and well-known for its capability of manufacturing the objects with complex geometries, unlike a conventional manufacturing process. AM consists of the number of technologies, each comprised of materials in different forms, viz. liquid, powder, wire, etc. Each technology has its way of feeding or delivering the material to the working area. In the deposition or cladding and powder bed AM technologies, the powder feeding plays a vital role in the initiation and creation of powder beds, which in turn impacts the shape, dimensional accuracy, strength, etc., of an object. Also, because of its complex mechanical structure, powder feeding is a tedious job. In this chapter, different types of powder feeding mechanisms are reviewed based on the type of powder, location of powder supply container, feeding direction, and techniques used. This paper briefly discusses different types of powder feeder in AM available today, compares, and explains their advantages and limitations, which could be used as a common ground for choosing a proper mechanism.