Directed Energy Deposition of Low-Alloyed Steels: An Insight on Microstructural and Mechanical Properties

Low-alloyed steels are used for a variety of different applications like bearings or gears. Additive manufacturing technologies like directed energy deposition (DED-LB/M) allow for a fast and close-to-contour fabrication of sophisticated products without excessive waste of material. However, the DED-LB/M process cannot be considered as state-of-the-art for this group of materials. This study presents findings on the material properties of the additively manufactured low-alloyed steel Bainidur AM by means of DED-LB/M. This includes studies on the mechanical properties (hardness, compression strength) as well as the microstructural properties (scanning electron microscopy [SEM]). The microstructure in the as-built state appears like a bainitic–martensitic one with shares of retained austenite which is not fully transformed during cooling. As a differentiation is barely possible from the SEM images, a plethora of investigations is further used to assess the microstructure. As-built samples possess a good combination of ductility and hardness. Furthermore, the specimens are characterized by a good tempering stability up to 600 °C. This tempering stability is characterized by a homogeneous hardness of around 400 HV1 for all temperatures. In contrast, the conventionally hardened specimens show a drop-off in material hardness, further indicating the excellent material properties of additively manufactured Bainidur AM.