Design and research on quantitative powder feed device for laser selective melting equipment

Aiming at the problems existed in the powder jamming, powder leakage and uneven powder feed in the upper powder feed, a quantitative powder feed device for laser selective melting equipment was designed. The composition and working principle of the device were introduced. The structures of rotary roller and stirring were optimized. Then the amount of powder was measured experimentally. The results show that the device had good powder feed stability, and the fluctuation value of powder feed was within 5%, which can meet the design requirements of selective laser melting (SLM) equipment. Now it had been successfully applied to the actual manufacturing.