Thermal stability of the cellular structure of an austenitic alloy after selective laser melting

Published ArticleThe thermal stability of the cellular structure of an austenitic Fe–17% Cr–12% Ni–2% Mo–1% Mn–0.7% Si–0.02% C alloy produced by selective laser melting in the temperature range 20–1200°C is investigated. Metallographic analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy show that structural changes in the alloy begin at 600-700°C and are fully completed at ~1150°C. Differential scanning calorimetry of the alloy with a cellular structure reveals three exothermic processes occurring upon annealing within the temperature ranges 450–650, 800–1000, and 1050–1200°

Design of Wear-Resistant Austenitic Steels for Selective Laser Melting

Type 316L stainless steel feedstock powder was modified by alloying with powders containing carbide/boride-forming elements to create improved wear-resistant austenitic alloys that can be readily processed by Selective Laser Melting. Fe-based alloys with high C, B, V, and Nb contents were thus produced, resulting in a microstructure that consisted of austenitic grains and a significant amount of hard carbides and borides. Heat treatments were performed to modify the carbide distribution and morphology. Optimal hard-phase spheroidization was achieved by annealing the proposed alloys at 1150 °C for 1 hour followed by water quenching. The total increase in hardness of samples containing 20 pct of C/B-rich alloy powder was of 82.7 pct while the wear resistance could be increased by a factor of 6