Results in Engineering

Year 2022, Article 100769

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2022.100769

Research progress in multi-material laser-powder bed fusion additive manufacturing: A review of the
state-of-the-art techniques for depositing multiple powders with spatial selectivity in a single layer

Andre Mussatto1, a
1
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Ireland
a
Corresponding author: [email protected]

Highlights
• The latest developments in multi-powder delivery systems for laser-powder bed fusion is presented.
• Multi-material laser-powder bed fusion is a disruptive technological innovation to its parent single-
material processing.
• Precise and accurate depositions of small amounts of powders for the formation multi-material intra-
layers is essential in the modern production paradigm.
• In line with the fast development of laser-powder bed fusion, further developments and new concepts
for multi-material processing, adapted to industry-specific requirements are expected.

Abstract
Additive manufacturing offers great potential and versatility for manufacturing high-quality and geometrically
complex components. Multi-material laser-powder bed fusion is an emerging additive manufacturing
approach where multiple materials are combined in order to manufacture multi-material components with new
possibilities in product design and spatially tailored properties. Several multi-material delivery systems have
been developed and a broad spectrum of applications have been demonstrated using multi-material laser-
powder bed fusion. This work provides an overview in terms of architecture, construction and applications of
all existing multi-material delivery systems developed for multi-material laser-powder bed fusion. Numerous
challenges related to the deposition and processing of multi-materials which have been reported are discussed
and potentials, which emerged through the use of multi-material laser-powder bed fusion are discussed
together with the future perspectives.

Keywords: multi-material printing; functionally graded materials; alloying; additive manufacturing; laser-
powder bed fusion

1. Introduction
Several additive manufacturing technologies are employed in industrial manufacturing nowadays. For
instance, laser-powder bed fusion of metals is utilised for serial production in aerospace, biomedical and
automotive industries 1–3. This is mainly because the additive manufacturing technologies bring forward
inherent flexibility and efficiency in producing highly complex components 4. However, most of the additive

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Year 2022, Article 100769
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manufacturing systems have been designed to print components from a single material 5,6. This is especially
true with regards to the laser-powder bed fusion systems 7. Multi-material laser-powder bed fusion provides a
unique capability for the manufacturing of even more complex components where complementary
functionality is realised using differences in material properties 8. This means that throughout a single
component, properties like mechanical, thermal and electrical, can be defined in areas that require it the most.
Therefore, the multi-material laser-powder bed fusion technology can enhance the performance of components
by varying material compositions and or material types. In fact, it is seen entailing an emerging direction and
a range of opportunities for design, functionality, and cost-effective high-value components.
Although there is a variety of commercially available laser-powder bed fusion systems, only a limited number
are designed for the production of components with multiple materials 9–12. Also, as multi-material laser-
powder bed fusion is relatively new, the powder deposition architecture of commercially available systems is
constantly being redeveloped. As a result, multi-material processing in laser-powder bed fusion is a relatively
less explored field. Therefore, this article presents an overview of the recent research progress in multi-
material laser-powder bed fusion, including technical and scientific challenges, opportunities and future
perspectives.
2. Latest Developments in Multi-Powder Delivery Systems
2.1 Conventional Powder Deposition
Conventional laser-powder bed fusion systems are suitable for the creation of composites and alloys in situ
through the use of elemental powder blends 13–15. These laser-powder bed fusion systems can also be used for
multi-material printing. However, they only allow the use of a single material at a time and for layered material
transitions. Therefore, the printing of multi-material components with conventional laser-powder bed fusion
systems can be divided into three main steps: (1) pausing the building process at the layer where the material
transition is desired, (2) changing of powder and (3) resuming the building process. To avoid a large volume
of powder contamination at the end of the building process, the previously used powder is removed at step (2)
16
. Also, to mitigate oxidation of the printed surfaces, the printer chamber is preferably maintained flooded
with the inert gas and the building process then can be resumed once the oxygen level has reached the specified
threshold 17. Another recommendation at step (2) is to apply several passages of the recoating unit to assure
sufficient compaction of the powder and that the powder bed is levelled with the height of the last printed
layer 18. Additionally, at step (3) it is recommended to repeat the lasing on the transition layer 2-3 times to
promote a better fusion between the materials 17. Figure 1 illustrates examples of multi-material components
printed by using conventional laser-powder bed fusion systems.

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(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 1 Multi-material components printed using conventional laser-powder bed fusion systems. (a) 316L
stainless steel to C52400 copper 17. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2020 Elsevier. (b) NiTi to
Ti6Al4V 18. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2020 Elsevier. (c) A1.2367 tool steel to ZrO2-Al2O3
blend 16. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2022 Springer Nature.

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2.2 Patterning Drums

In 2019, Aerosint introduced to the market a low-waste multi-material selective powder deposition technology
19
. It was designed to deposit dry powder particles (of polymer, metal or ceramic) to form a single layer
containing at least two materials. This is achieved through rotating patterning drums, where one drum deposits
one material, hence at least two drums are required for multi-material deposition. The process is based on the
selective deposition voxel of powder in a layer-by-layer fashion 10. The technology is capable of forming
powder beds at 200 mm/s and is designed to be less sensitive to powder characteristics than conventional
spreading systems 20. Figure 2 shows the Aerosint patterning drums and a stainless steel-copper heat exchanger
printed with this technology.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Figure 2 Aerosint’s commercial selective powder deposition technology for multi-material laser-powder bed
fusion. (a-b) Dual powder recoater 21,22, (c) CuCrZr-316L powder bed 21 and (d) the resulting printed heat
exchanger component 23. Reproduced with permission, copyright Aerosint SA.
2.3 Powder Spreading with Removal by Suction
Another approach for applying powders in a multi-material process combines a full-surface powder deposition
with powder removal by suction 24. An illustration of this approach is shown in Figure 3 where an AconityONE
printer was upgraded with a multi-material mobile module that can be installed and removed. In this
configuration, tool steel 1.2709 (powder A) and copper alloy 2.129 (powder B) powders were applied by
pairing the conventional powder supplier with a second powder conveying system. At first, powder A was
spread and selectively melted. Then, the suction unit removed the unsolidified powder A. After that, powder
B was delivered and selectively melted. This cycle was repeated for consecutive powder layers 25,26.

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Figure 3 A conventional single-material laser-powder bed fusion printer implemented with a multi-material
mechanism. 1: AconityONE; 2: process chamber; 3: scan head; 4: powder reservoir (material B); 5: powder
conveyor; 6: recoater and suction unit; 7: powder slide; 8: cyclone separator; 9: vacuum pump; 10: electronic
control unit 26. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2022 Elsevier.
2.4 Vibrating Nozzle
The ultrasonic vibration-assisted powder delivery system with a vortex suction nozzle is currently the most
researched approach for multiple powder delivery. As it is illustrated in Figure 4, it is possible to deposit up
to six discrete powder materials within one layer. Here, powders are locally deposited by means of nozzles
with small orifice diameters 27. When the valve of the powder column is opened, the gravity flow condition is
achieved. However, several factors affect the potential and kinetic energy of the powder 28. Therefore, to allow
for a controlled fluidisation of the powder, gas pressure assistance can be used 29. Nevertheless, ultrasonic
vibration-assisted powder dispensing is commonly employed as powder flow rates can be more effectively
and accurately regulated by controlling the electrical pulses to the piezoelectric transducer 30–32.

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(a)

(d)

(b) (c)

(e) (f) (g)

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Figure 4 (a) Illustration of the ultrasonic vibration-assisted powder delivery system with a vortex suction
nozzle 32,33. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2019 and 2020 ASME. (b-c) Powder deposition nozzle
28,34
. Reproduced with permission, copyright Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication and University of Texas at
Austin. (d) 0.8 mm in linewidth deposited soda-lime powder 28. Reproduced with permission, copyright
Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication and University of Texas at Austin. (e-g) Printed multi-material
components 35–37. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2018 and 2020 Elsevier and University of
Manchester Innovation Factory.
2.5 Hopper Powder Feeding
Powder hoppers housing separated powders can be operated singularly for single-powder processing or can
be used simultaneously for blending multiple powders at a desired composition. Typically placed externally
and above the processing chamber, powder hoppers are operated with piezoelectric transducers and solenoid
valves to control the unloading of powder 38,39, see Figure 5(a-b). The material discharged is then spread onto
the powder bed using a coating blade system 40. This mechanism allows for discrete and gradient material
transitions along the build direction 41. Alternatively, the mechanism shown in Figure 5(c) is capable of
depositing six different powders in the same layer. Here, aligned and close-packed hoppers slide over the build
platform spreading the powders in trails forming a rainbow-like powder bed of multi-material 42. The
mechanism shown in Figure 5(d) also combines a conventional powder spreading recoater with a hopper
module, but it is equipped with a vacuum nozzle for powder suction 43,44. Therefore, it is possible to deposit
multiple different materials at specified locations, allowing for the printing of multi-material components with
site-specific functionality.

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(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Figure 5 Prototypes of powder hopper mechanisms for (a-b) dual material 45,46. Reproduced with permission,
copyright 2019 Elsevier and 2020 Elsevier. (c-d) Multiple material deposition 42,43. Reproduced with
permission, copyright Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication and University of Texas at Austin and 2021
Elsevier.
The discrete and gradient material transitions observed in the laser-powder bed fused components in Figure 6
were achieved using hopper powder feeding mechanisms. Therefore, the existing hopper powder feeding
mechanisms fulfill both inter- and intra-layer material variations.

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(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Figure 6 Discrete and gradient material transitions in components printed from powder layers formed by
powder hoppers. (a) 316L-IN718 heat exchanger 47. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2021 Elsevier.
(b) 316L-CuSn10 tensile specimens 38. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2020 Elsevier. (c) IN718-
CRCop-42 bushing 43. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2021 Elsevier. (d) H13-Cu specimen of graded
material composition 42. Reproduced with permission, copyright Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication and
University of Texas at Austin.
2.6 Alternating Powder Deposition
New powder deposition mechanisms for laser-powder bed fusion are needed to achieve economic, efficient
and simple multi-material processing. For example, the alternating powder deposition mechanism uses the
powder recoating approach to spread one or more powders at any build layer to laser-powder bed fuse
sandwich-structures also known as 2D hybrid components 48. The powder deposition system of Figure 7(a) is
based on two aligned opposing recoaters 49, whereas in the system illustrated in Figure 7(b) multi-materials
spreading is achieved by recoaters arranged perpendicular to each other 50. The dual powder carrier alternating
recoater shown in Figure 7(c) is designed with a centre separator which separates the front shaft from the back

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shaft. This system is configured to deposit one powder in each recoating direction 51. The ringblades powder
deposition system illustrated in Figure 7(d-e) can be easily operated with up to four different powders 52,53. It
can deposit a new powder layer in approximately 5 s and the powder reservoirs can be refilled or replaced
within 3 min 53. This is a small-scale alternating powder deposition system hence is best suitable for micro
laser-powder bed fusion processing 54.

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(a)

(b)

(c)

(e) (d)

Figure 7 Alternating powder deposition systems for laser-powder bed fusion of multi-material components.
(a) Two opposing recoaters 49. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2020 Elsevier. (b) Two perpendicular
recoaters 50. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2019 Elsevier. (c) Dual powder carrier alternating
recoater 51. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2022 Springer Nature. (d) Two ringblades powder
spreaders 54. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2007 WILEY-VCH. (e) Four ringblades powder
spreaders 53. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2022 Springer Nature.

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2.7 Electrophotographic Powder Deposition

Electrophotographic metal powder transfer for laying patterned layers composed of multiple powders is a very
promising approach. However, fundamental research is required to understand the different effects existing in
this process. Figure 8(a-b) show two experimental setups which are based on this technology 55,56. The working
principle of electrophotographic powder deposition is summarised below. A photoreceptor is uniformly
charged to a specified charge density using an electrical corona 57. After that, the photoreceptor is selectively
discharged by laser exposure as per layer data 58,59. Thus, an electrostatic image containing powder data of the
component for a specified layer is created 60,61. Next, the photoreceptor is brought close to the powder supplier
causing powder particles to attach to the appropriated charged areas of the photoreceptor 62. Then, the
developed powder image is transferred onto the charged build substrate by electrostatic attraction force 63. In
the final step, the photoreceptor is cleaned off with a blade to remove residual particles and also discharged
with a second laser exposure before the start of the next powder deposition cycle 64,65. Figure 8(c) illustrates a
copper-iron composed powder layer deposited via this electrophotographic approach.

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(a)

(b)

(c)

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Figure 8 Electrophotographic powder transfer system for depositing multiple powders in the same layer. (a)
A electrophotographic machine design 66. Reproduced with permission, copyright 2018 Elsevier. (b) Light-
emitting diode exposing station 67. Reproduced with permission, copyright SINTEF Norway. (c) Single layer
copper and iron powder deposition 67. Reproduced with permission, copyright SINTEF Norway.
3. Challenges
3.1 Multi-Powder Deposition
Although considerable progress has been achieved in multiple material deposition, substantial research is still
required. Also, there is a lack of guidelines in terms of capabilities and applications for the existing multi-
material deposition approaches. Furthermore, it is challenging to integrate multi-material deposition systems
into the existing conventional laser-powder bed fusion printers 26. This is primarily due to the complex
architecture, size and functional requirements of multi-material deposition systems, and also because most of
the commercial printers are closed-source systems. It is worth pointing out that current efforts in multi-material
processing concentrated on the development of material deposition systems. However, attention is also
required to the process development point of view.
3.2 Multi-material Processing
The current efficiency and precision in depositing gradient and patterned multiple powders need to be
improved to comply with basic application requirements that enable printing useful multi-material
components 36. In the future, several unique proprietary powder deposition systems for the laser-powder bed
fusion of multi-material components should be established.
Due to the different chemical, physical, optical and thermal properties of materials, input parameters for
processing layers with multiple powders demand for careful consideration and comprehensive optimisation
studies. In comparison to single-material, multi-material processing is considerably more challenging and the
adoption of unsuitable input parameters can lead to the printing of components with undesirable properties,
including many metallurgical defects such as porosity, balling, cracking and delaminations 68.
In multi-material printing cross-contamination between materials is an important issue to be addressed.
Powder deposition systems equipped with vacuum pump provides the best option to reduce contamination 43.
Recycling of powders from multi-material processing is challenging as the powders cannot be easily separated
from each other. The use of powders of different particle size distributions, which can be sorted and recycled
by sieving, is not always a viable solution 69. Powder separation based on the ferromagnetic properties of one
powder and the powder sedimentation process can be used for powder separation where applicable 70.
However, optimum solutions are to minimise and prevent powder contaminations as powder recycling
approaches can alter the powder properties and cause moisture and oxygen pick up 71–74. Table 1 contrasts the
multi-powder deposition systems for L-PBF. It reveals that each of them has its own advantages and
disadvantages. Therefore, the selection of one multi-powder deposition system over another may be
determined by the printing orientation and multi-material design of the component to be printed.

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Table 1 Overview of the advantages and disadvantages of the various multi-powder deposition systems for
L-PBF.

Polymeric powders

Ceramic powders
Metallic powders
Powder blends
Single powder

Multi powder

GPDWOL

DPDWOL
OPPLLT
PPPCCL

LPTFPB
System
Conventional spreading      L  T
Patterning Drums     H   S
Spreading plus suction       L   VS
Vibrating Nozzle      M    VS
Hopper feeding      H    S
Alternating       M  T
Electrophotographic     H   VS

PPPCCL = Post Printing Powder Cross Contamination Level; L = Low; M = Medium; H

= High; OPPLLT = One Powder Per Layer (Material Transition Between Layers);
GPDWOL = Gradient Powder Deposition Within One Layer; DPDWOL = Discrete
Powder Deposition Within One Layer; LPTFPB = Level of Productivity (Time to Form a
Powder Bed), T = Tolerable; S = Slow; VS = Very Slow

3.3 Market for Multi-Material Printers

Multi-material laser-powder bed fusion is a disruptive technological innovation to its parent single-material
processing. Besides processing single-material components, multi-material printers also process 2D hybrid,
functionally graded and 3D multi-material components. As per the reviewed literature, many remarkable
results have been reported over the last couple of years, offering significant potential to revolutionise the next
generation of functional components. In fact, commercial multi-material laser-powder bed fusion printers have
been gaining market ground, and a great market potential can hence be expected for multi-material
components.
4. Future Perspectives
Research in the field of multi-material laser-powder bed fusion is relatively new and in the infancy stage.
Therefore, there is a need for accelerated trials and investigations for actual applications of multi-material
components to come to fruition. On this basis, the perspectives on research opportunities, material
developments and research and development approaches for multi-material laser-powder bed fusion are
process optimization, process monitoring, closed-loop control, system improvement, process simulation and
functionality and performance enhancements.
It is envisaged that it will be possible to arbitrarily deposit colloids onto powder beds to improve material
processability and to further functionalise material composition 5. Currently, the lack in flow properties of
pure and dried nano-sized powders prevent them from being deposited with conventional powder deposition
systems. Via the electrophotographic metal powder transfer approach, pure nano-sized multi-powder laser-

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powder bed fusion will be possible. This means the deposition of nano-thick layers, which opens up a spectrum
of possibilities for complexity and functionality, but at this time at the nano-scale.
5. Concluding Remarks
An analysis of the available literature on multi-material processing by laser-powder bed fusion has revealed
its importance and explored the possibilities it offers in expanding laser-powder bed fusion applications.
Multi-material laser-powder bed fusion will be increasingly employed for manufacturing 2D hybrid,
functionally graded and 3D multi-material components. The most significant achievements in multi-material
deposition were revealed with the patterning drums, electrophotographic powder transfer and vibrating nozzle
systems. This was due to their capability of depositing discrete powder materials within one layer with
reasonable accuracy. However, despite significant advances in multi-material processing over the last few
years, there exist many outstanding problems, such as the serious issue of powder cross-contamination.
Therefore, contamination management between material systems is a challenge to be faced. There is also an
urgent need for an in-depth analysis of the multi-material laser-powder bed fusion process, so that the
knowledge generated can be used in optimising and improving the process to the specific needs. The most
predictable potential of multi-material will be a revolutionary movement in laser-powder bed fusion forcing
the modernisation and growth of the additive manufacturing industry while offering an opportunity for the
manufacturing of functional components not possible of manufacturing to date.

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