Effect of Structural Support on Microstructure of Nickel Base Superalloy Fabricated by Laser-Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing by EWI Engineers Hyeyun Song, Tom McGaughy, and Alber Sadek has been published in the journal ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING. The article, co-authored by their colleague Wei Zhang at The Ohio State University, will appear in Volume 26 of the journal in March. It is currently available online.
INCONEL® 718 builds are produced by laser-powder bed fusion additive manufacturing for cubic geometries with and without structural support. The effect of support on the as-built microstructure is studied based on the microstructural characteristics and micro-hardness variations. Particularly, the microstructure is examined by optical microscopy, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The precipitates are identified via high-resolution energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and selected area diffraction. Hardness distribution on cross sections parallel and perpendicular to the build direction is mapped. Furthermore, it is developed a lumped-capacity solution to heat conduction coupled with a quasi-steady state temperature solution for moving point heat source. These analytical solutions, taking into account various processing parameters, are used to explain the observed microstructure similarity with and without support. The comprehensive set of microstructure data is useful for future work of modelling processing-microstructure relation as well as optimizing post-fabrication heat treatment.
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If you would like to contact the authors, they can be reached at [email protected] or 614.688.5000.