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Volume 105
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Micro-mechanical analysis on the spreading of tungsten powder in electron beam powder bed fusion additive manufacturing
Ju Wang a, Haiyang Zhao b, Zhe Liu a c, Dengzhi Yao d, Meng Li a, Shujun Li e, Dechun Ren e, Jian Wang d, Xizhong An a *
a Key Laboratory for Ecological Metallurgy of Multimetallic Mineral of Ministry of Education, School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China
b School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia
c Shenyang Aircraft Industry Group Co., Ltd, Shenyang, 110031, China
d State Key Laboratory of Porous Metal Materials, Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research, Xi'an, 710016, China
e Shichangxu Advanced Materials Innovation Center, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China
10.1016/j.partic.2025.08.008
Volume 105, October 2025, Pages 277-287
Received 2 June 2025, Revised 28 July 2025, Accepted 15 August 2025, Available online 22 August 2025, Version of Record 30 August 2025.
E-mail: anxz@mail.neu.edu.cn
Highlights

• Spreading of pure W powder under different conditions was numerically reproduced.

• Systematic micro-mechanics analysis was conducted based on parametric studies.

• Corresponding mechanisms were revealed by the evolution of local force structure.


Abstract

Electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) enables the additive manufacturing of high-melting-point, reactive metals like tungsten. However, the quality of the powder bed is governed by the micro-mechanics of powder spreading, which remain unclear. In this work, the spreading of tungsten powder during EB-PBF process was numerically reproduced by three-dimensional discrete element method. Micro-mechanics (particle motion behaviors, evolution of contact forces and formation of force arches) of the powder spreading were analyzed under varying operating parameters (spreading velocity (V), spreading height (Hset)) and particle size distribution (PSD). Additionally, powder bed density ρ and surface roughness Ra were also evaluated. Results indicate that low Hset facilitates the formation of short-length, stable force arches in front of the recoater, hindering powder fall onto the substrate. At low V, the force arches undergo partial collapse and are subsequently restored by surrounding particles, enabling high-frequency, small-quantity powder deposition, which results in higher ρ and lower Ra. Conversely, at high V, force arches collapse completely and require longer rebuilding periods, leading to periodic powder deposition and large voids in the powder bed. Increasing PSD standard deviation facilitates the stable force arches by large particles, permitting small particle percolation, which reduces ρ and Ra.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
EB-PBF; Tungsten; Discrete element modelling; Micro-mechanical analysis; Powder spreading
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