The beginning of the chapter is devoted to methods of receiving of metal powders—initial components for metal additive manufacturing. Initial materials are very important part of manufacturing, because their quality has an influence on stability of production process and quality of final product. There are various methods of metal powder synthesis. They may be separated conventionally on physical–chemical and mechanical ones. The physical–chemical methods are associated with physical and chemical transformations, and chemical composition and structure of the final product (metal powder) significantly differ from raw materials. The mechanical methods include various types of milling processes and jet dispersion melts by high pressure of gas or liquid (atomization). It is shown that the typical methods of quantitative estimation of powdered materials and some parameters for alloys that already were used in additive technologies. The next theme of the chapter is a review of additive technologies, initial materials for that is metal powders. At this moment, there are three main technologies that have found wide use for the production of metal parts from metal powders: binder jetting, directed energy deposition, and powder bed fusion. Each of them has unique peculiarity, advantages, and limitations that will be presented in the chapter.
Part of the book: New Trends in 3D Printing