Comparative study of the microstructure between a laser beam melted 17-4PH stainless steel and its conventional counterpart

The aim of this work was to compare the microstructures of 17-4PH martensitic stainless steels (MSSs) obtained by conventional manufacturing (CM), and additive manufacturing (AM) using laser beam melting (LBM) process. Both materials were studied after the same H900 heat treatment. Significant differences in microstructure were observed between the two MSSs, with a higher austenite content for the AM-H900 sample, as compared to the CM-H900 sample. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses allowed to identify both retained and reversed austenite in the AM-H900 sample, but most part of the austenite detected was found to be reversed austenite. The high amount of reversed austenite in the AM-H900 sample was attributed to a heterogeneous distribution in austenite-stabilising elements in the solution heat treated AM sample, leading to a decrease in Ms value and subsequent increase in the driving force for the martensite to austenite transformation during the ageing at 480 degrees C. Moreover, TEM analyses highlighted thinner martensite laths for the AM-H900 steel as compared to the CM-H900 one. This was interpreted as an increase in both nucleation sites and growth rate for reversed austenite. Despite those differences in microstructure, the AM-H900 and CM-H900 samples showed similar tensile behaviour, with similar UTS and Rp0.2 values, but a decrease in the strain to fracture was observed for the AM-H900 sample, probably related to the pores and/or to intergranular carbides.

Automated summary

The study compared the microstructures of 17-4PH martensitic stainless steels produced through conventional manufacturing and additive manufacturing with laser beam melting. It was found that there were significant differences in microstructure between the two methods, with the additive manufacturing sample containing a higher amount of reversed austenite.