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Effects of Powder Attributes and Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) Process Conditions on the Densification and Mechanical Properties of 17-4 PH Stainless Steel

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Abstract

The effects of powders attributes (shape and size distribution) and critical processing conditions (energy density) on the densification and mechanical properties of laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) 17-4 PH stainless steel were studied using four types of powders. The % theoretical density, ultimate tensile strength and hardness of both water- and gas-atomized powders increased with increased energy density. Gas-atomized powders showed superior densification and mechanical properties when processed at low energy densities. However, the % theoretical density and mechanical properties of water-atomized powders were comparable to gas-atomized powders when sintered at a high energy density of 104 J/mm3. An important result of this study was that, even at high % theoretical density (97% ± 1%), the properties of as-printed parts could vary over a relatively large range (UTS: 500–1100 MPa; hardness: 25–39 HRC; elongation: 10–25%) depending on powder characteristics and process conditions. The results also demonstrate the feasibility of using relatively inexpensive water-atomized powders as starting raw material instead of the typically used gas-atomized powders to fabricate parts using L-PBF techniques by sintering at high energy densities.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank the Walmart Foundation for funding the research project.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA

    Harish Irrinki & Sundar V. Atre

  2. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Michael Dexter, Brenton Barmore & Rajiv Malhotra

  3. Global Tungsten & Powders Corporation, Towanda, PA, 18848, USA

    Ravi Enneti

  4. North American Hoganas, Johnstown, PA, 15935, USA

    Somayeh Pasebani & Sunil Badwe

  5. Metal Technologies Incorporated, Albany, OR, 97322, USA

    Jason Stitzel

Authors
  1. Harish Irrinki
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  2. Michael Dexter
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  3. Brenton Barmore
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  4. Ravi Enneti
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  5. Somayeh Pasebani
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  6. Sunil Badwe
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  7. Jason Stitzel
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  8. Rajiv Malhotra
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  9. Sundar V. Atre
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Correspondence to Sundar V. Atre.

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Irrinki, H., Dexter, M., Barmore, B. et al. Effects of Powder Attributes and Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) Process Conditions on the Densification and Mechanical Properties of 17-4 PH Stainless Steel. JOM 68, 860–868 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-015-1770-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-015-1770-4

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