Effect of heat treatments on microstructural evolution of additively manufactured and wrought 17-4PH stainless steel

Additively manufactured (AM) components usually have nonequilibrium microstructures. Post-built heat treatments are recommended for AM components to achieve homogenous microstructures. In this study, the effects were investigated of conventional solutionizing and precipitation hardening (H-900) heat treatments on the microstructure evolution of 17-4PH AM and wrought components. Microstructural characterization techniques including SEM, TEM and EBSD analysis were used on 17-4PH AM and wrought components to obtain quantitative information about the microstructure and phase evolution during these heat treatments. These microstructural studies demonstrate that 17-4PH AM components can achieve microstructures and hardnesses similar to those of wrought samples by post-built heat treatments. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.