Particle scale modelling of powder spreading in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

Powder bed fusion is an additive manufacturing process where powders are added and melted layer by layer. In this process, powder spreading by rollers or blades plays a significant role in affecting powder layer structure then process speed and part quality. However, the dynamics of powder spreading is still not well known. This thesis presents a comprehensive investigation of powder dynamics in spreading, including effects of key variables such as particle adhesion, layer gap, spreader geometries and speed, and particle size distribution. This work can help researchers and industries in understanding, prediction and optimisation of this process.