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Title: Additive manufacturing and spark plasma sintering as effective routes for manufacturing of AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel - WC composites

Journal Article · · Journal of Materials Research and Technology

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) are lightweight, high-performance materials with continuous expansion in industrial applications. In this study, Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), Binder Jetting (BJ), and Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS), were used to produce AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel (SS316L)-WC composite with different compositions and powder preparations. In the present study, the products manufactured with these different technologies and material compositions were compared in terms of final density, microstructure, and mechanical property. Results show a significant difference in the microstructure of the parts produced by these different manufacturing techniques with microstructural analysis showing that samples processed by LPBF exhibit the finest grain size, while the BJ processed samples exhibit the coarsest grain size. Furthermore, analysis of the micrographs and the XRD patterns obtained for all processing routes suggest that there was some level of WC dissolution followed by inter atomic diffusion occurring between the WC inclusions and the SS316L matrix, involving dissolved W and C atoms from the inclusions and Cr and Fe atoms from the steel matrix, with the final structure and microhardness of the composite system depending on the kinetics of the manufacturing process.

Research Organization:
San Diego State Univ., CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); US Army Research Laboratory (USARL); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0022244; W911–NF-20-2-0226; 1900876; 2119832
OSTI ID:
1996442
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2422107
Journal Information:
Journal of Materials Research and Technology, Vol. 26; ISSN 2238-7854
Publisher:
Brazilian Metallurgical, Materials and Mining AssociationCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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