Influence of the printing strategy on the microstructure and mechanical properties of thick-walled wire arc additive manufactured stainless steels

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Abstract

Stainless steels manufactured via wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) often exhibit heterogeneous and strongly textured microstructures, usually entailing an anisotropic mechanical response. These microstructures are induced by the processing conditions, such as specific printing strategies. The influence of three different printing strategies on the microstructure and mechanical properties of thick-walled stainless steel parts is investigated in this work. The three strategies considered are layer-wise unidirectional, layer-wise weaving, and bidirectional zig-zag scanning paths. The microstructure of the samples is characterized at different scales using optical microscopy and electron backscattered diffraction. The mechanical behavior is studied by uniaxial tensile tests, assisted with digital image correlation, on specimens extracted at different orientations. In addition, a mean-field crystal plasticity model is used to study the macroscopic yield strength anisotropy. The results reveal different microstructures, especially crystal orientations and grain size, resulting in distinct orientation-dependent mechanical properties and plastic deformation behavior. The layer-wise unidirectional and weaving strategies exhibit a significant plastic anisotropy, especially regarding ductility. In contrast, the bidirectional zig-zag strategy shows a comparatively homogeneous microstructure and more isotropic mechanical behavior than the other two printing strategies. Additionally, the predictions from a mean-field crystal plasticity model reveal the three-dimensional anisotropic yield strength trends, showing a correlation between the < 111 > crystal directions and the strongest yield response for all samples.
Original languageEnglish
Article number118275
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Materials Processing Technology
Volume324
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

Funding

This research was carried out under project number P16–46/S17024f, which is part of the AiM2XL program, in the framework of the Partnership Program of the Materials Innovation Institute M2i (www.m2i.nl) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (www.nwo.nl). The research was conducted in collaboration with industrial partners and supported by the Rotterdam Fieldlab Additive Manufacturing BV (RAMLAB), www.ramlab.com. The authors would like to thank Constantinos Goulas for the fruitful discussions and Vignesh Subramanian for their support during the sample manufacturing. Furthermore, we thank Marc van Maris for his support during the experiments. This research was carried out under project number P16–46/S17024f , which is part of the AiM2XL program, in the framework of the Partnership Program of the Materials Innovation Institute M2i ( www.m2i.nl ) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research ( www.nwo.nl ). The research was conducted in collaboration with industrial partners and supported by the Rotterdam Fieldlab Additive Manufacturing BV (RAMLAB), www.ramlab.com . The authors would like to thank Constantinos Goulas for the fruitful discussions and Vignesh Subramanian for their support during the sample manufacturing. Furthermore, we thank Marc van Maris for his support during the experiments.

FundersFunder number
Rotterdam Fieldlab Additive Manufacturing BV
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Materials Innovation Institute (M2i)

    Keywords

    • Wire-arc directed energy deposition
    • Printing strategies
    • Microstructure
    • Mechanical anisotropy
    • Structure-property relationship

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