The properties of powder bed have an important influence on the forming process in the additive manufacturing technology.The forming process of powder bed for additive manufacturing was analyzed,and a simulation and analysis method was proposed based on discrete element method.The influences of particle size distribution and layer thickness on the properties of powder bed were studied.The results showed that the packing density and average coordination number increase with the increase of layer thickness,and trend to be stable at last.When the layer thickness is 80 or 400 μm,the packing densities and average coordination numbers of powder beds with monosize distribution and Gaussian distribution are almost equal with each other.At other layer thicknesses,the packing density of powder bed with Gaussian distribution initially is higher than that of monosize distribution initially,and the differential increases first and then decreases with the increasing layer thickness.Similarly,the average coordination number of powder bed with monosize distribution initially is higher than that of Gaussian distribution initially,and the differential increases first and then decreases with the increase of layer thickness.The research provides a guide to the determination of particle size distribution and layer thickness of powder bed for additive manufacture.
