Direct Feed: Powder or Wire?

Powder feedstock is costly, with variable quality and complex feeding, while wire feedstock is more cost-effective, offers consistent quality, and has established feeding processes.

If we compare the two feedstock, we can conclude that powder has high cost, variable quality, complicated feeding unless done from the side, material efficiency between 40% and 60%, high safety issues especially with titanium or aluminium, difficult out-of-position deposition, and no rotation problems if a coaxial feed is used. Wire, instead, has medium cost, high quality in titanium, iron, nickel alloys (and variable quality in aluminium), a well-established feeding process, 100% material efficiency, no particular safety issues, easy out-of-position deposition, and rotation challenges only with off-axis feed processes.