Abstract
Recently, additive manufacturing (AM) has gained a lot of interest in industry and academia due to its capability of providing parts of unprecedented geometric complexity. A well-studied and, thus, the most commonly used material for processing via AM is Ti-6Al-4V with applications in the biomedical and aerospace sectors. However, for numerous envisaged applications, different materials, such as stainless steels or Ni-base alloys, have to be contemplated. As these alloys do not undergo a phase transformation upon cooling from solidification to room temperature, the microstructure induced by AM is completely different to that of Ti-6Al-4V. The current paper highlights the impact of different AM techniques, namely selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM), on the microstructure evolution and concurrent implications for the resulting mechanical properties. Possibilities for direct microstructural design as well as necessities for post-process treatments are presented and discussed.
Zusammenfassung
Die Additive Fertigung (AM) gewinnt sowohl in der Industrie als auch in der Forschung mehr und mehr an Bedeutung aufgrund der Herstellbarkeit geometrisch hochgradig komplexer Teile. Ein weitgehend erforschtes und damit das am häufigsten additiv verarbeitete Material ist Ti-6Al-4V mit typischen Anwendungen in der Biomedizin und dem Luftfahrtbereich. Für weitere angedachte Anwendungen müssen andere Materialien, wie rostfreie Stähle oder Ni-Basis-Legierungen, qualifiziert werden. Diese durchlaufen jedoch keine Phasenumwandlung bei der Abkühlung von der Erstarrungs- auf Raumtemperatur, weshalb sich die durch den AM-Prozess induzierte Mikrostruktur erheblich von der der Ti-6Al-4V Legierung unterscheidet. Diese Arbeit stellt den Einfluss verschiedener AM-Prozesse, nämlich des selektiven Laserschmelzens (SLM) und des selektiven Elektronenstrahlschmelzens (EBM), auf die Mikrostrukturentwicklung und deren Bedeutung für die resultierenden mechanischen Eigenschaften vor. Die Möglichkeiten zur direkten Einstellung der Mikrostruktur als auch die Notwendigkeit nachgeschalteter (Wärme‑)Behandlungen werden vorgestellt und diskutiert.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr.-Ing. Andre Riemer and Alexander Taube (Direct Manufacturing Research Center (DMRC), Paderborn, Germany) as well as Dr. Dieter Schwarze (SLM Solutions AG, Lübeck, Germany) and Dr.-Ing. Steffen Neumeier (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany) for fruitful discussions in the context of recent collaborative projects. Financial support by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Contract No. NI1327/7-1 is gratefully acknowledged.
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Results shown in the current study are derived from several collaborative research projects conducted in recent years. For details on process parameters and experimental procedures, the reader is referred to the respective publications.
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Brenne, F., Leuders, S. & Niendorf, T. On the Impact of Additive Manufacturing on Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of Stainless Steel and Ni-base Alloys. Berg Huettenmaenn Monatsh 162, 199–202 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00501-017-0590-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00501-017-0590-y