Concept of 3D Printed Powder Feeder for Thermal Spray Process – A Case Study

Abstract

Thermal spraying is playing an increasingly important role among coating manufacturing methods because of its properties and ecology. An obstacle to their development is the price of the available equipment used in this process. The article presents the concept of making individual elements of a powder feeder by 3D printing. The designs are equipped with a volumetric feeding system using a disk driven by an electric motor and a worm gearbox. The individual elements of the feeder were designed and based on the drawings; they were made using several types of 3D printers. The design and fabrication were limited to the use of a small number of parts made of metal including little machining. In the following part, a prototype of the feeder was made and tested. It was shown to have correct characteristics of its operation and, in particular, correct linear characteristics of powder feed rate from disk speed similarly to commercial devices. Tests of the made feeder indicate the possibility of its use in thermal spraying systems.