Standardization News

The ASTM International committee on metal powders and metal powder products (B09) is sponsoring an April 16 workshop on powder characterization at the Hampton Inn & Suites Amelia Island Historic Harbor Front in Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA. The workshop will take place in conjunction with the standards development meetings of the committee. 

Workshop organizer and ASTM International member W. Brian James noted that new powder characterization tests have been developed but not yet standardized for use specifically with metal powders.

In anticipation of the meeting, workshop presenters were supplied two sets of metal powders (titanium alloy and ferrous-based) with a particle size suitable for powder-bed-fusion processing. Each set contained virgin powder plus powders that had been through the process multiple times. Participants were asked to characterize the powders using either a Freeman rheometer or a rotating drum tester. Then, they recorded results for three test repetitions on a fresh test portion of powder from each process condition. 

The results of these tests will be presented at the workshop and will form the basis for deciding whether the committee should develop standard guides or test methods for these new metal powder characterization techniques.

The workshop and the committee meeting are open to anyone interested. For more information, contact ASTM International staff manager Molly Lynyak (mlynyak@astm.org).