Effect of Laser Speed on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AISI H13 Tool Steel Prepared by Laser Powder Bed Fusion Process

Additive manufacturing (AM) technology is widely used to fabricate complex 3D products directly from CAD file. Laser-based Powder Bed Fusion process (L-PBF) is considered the most important AM techniques that can produce high-quality Tool Steel products such as dies for Aluminum High-Pressure Die Casting. Traditional techniques face significant challenges due to mold design complexity and water cooling system channels, which are needed to reduce the die temperature and to allow fast cooling of the casting. These challenges can be solved by applying AM techniques. In L-PBF, several process parameters such as Laser scanning speed, layer thickness and laser power affect the quality of the product. In the present work, L-PBF technique was used to prepare H13 tool steel samples using different Laser scanning speeds, ranging from 150 mm/s up to 600mm/s, as it is the main process parameter affecting both the quality and the productivity of the produced parts. The microstructure after L-PBF process was analyzed using optical, and SEM microscopy as well as x-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties were determined by using tensile, impact toughness and hardness tests. The results refer to the powerful effect of the scanning speed of laser, on mechanical properties, porosity formation, and the observed microstructure of H13 tool steel.

Automated summary

Additive manufacturing technology is widely used for directly fabricating complex 3D products from CAD files, with Laser-based Powder Bed Fusion process considered as one of the most important AM techniques for producing high-quality Tool Steel products. The quality of the products can be affected by process parameters such as Laser scanning speed in the L-PBF process, as demonstrated in this study.