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Approach to Estimate the Phase Formation and the Mechanical Properties of Alloys Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion via Casting
A high-performance tool steel with the nominal composition Fe85Cr4Mo8V2C1 (wt%) was processed by three different manufacturing techniques with rising cooling rates: conventional gravity casting, centrifugal casting and an additive manufacturing process, using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). The resulting material of all processing routes reveals a microstructure, which is composed of martensite, austenite and carbides. However, comparing the size, the morphology and the weight fraction of the present phases, a significant difference of the gravity cast samples is evident, whereas the centrifugal cast material and the LPBF samples show certain commonalities leading finally to similar mechanical properties. This provides the opportunity to roughly estimate the mechanical properties of the material fabricated by LPBF. The major benefit arises from the required small material quantity and the low resources for the preparation of samples by centrifugal casting in comparison to the additive manufacturing process. Concluding, the present findings demonstrate the high attractiveness of centrifugal casting for the effective material screening and hence development of novel alloys adapted to LPBF-processing.
Effect of Selective Laser Melting on Microstructure, Mechanical, and Corrosion Properties of Biodegradable FeMnCS for Implant Applications
Selective laser melting (SLM) of biodegradable metallic materials offers a great potential for manufacturing customized implants. Herein, SLM processing of a novel Fe–30Mn–1C–0.02S twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) alloy and the resulting structural, mechanical, and corrosion properties are presented. The occurring rapid solidification results in a fine-grained austenitic microstructure with mainly homogeneous element distribution, which is investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD). By processing the alloy via SLM, significantly higher strengths under tensile and compressive load in comparison with those for the as-cast counterpart and a 316L reference steel are achieved. Electrochemical corrosion tests in a simulated body fluid (SBF) indicate a moderate corrosion activity, and a beneficial uniform degradation is shown in immersion tests in SBF. Regarding the envisaged application for vascular implants, SLM-processed stent prototypes out of the novel alloy are presented and a first functionality test is shown. © 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim