Materials characterization of new commercial Fe-based alloys specifically designed for additive manufacturing

拟议的项目涉及两种新的商业合金的材料表征：i）Corrax不锈钢和ii）M789钢。这些合金专门设计用于激光粉末床熔合（LPBF）工艺，该工艺结合了马氏体时效钢的可印刷性和不锈钢众所周知的耐腐蚀性。奥钢联增材制造有限公司目前正在探索这些材料在模具和压铸行业的潜在应用。为了确定可能受益于这些合金的工业零件，必须确定这些材料在热处理后的微观组织行为和机械性能。 提出了热力学模拟和实验工作相结合，以确定这些合金的最佳后加工热处理。阶段1涉及使用热力学软件在不同温度和冷却速率下模拟相分数。该活动之后将进行热处理实验，包括固溶和时效热处理，以及在第2阶段使用X射线衍射（XRD）和电子背散射衍射（EBSD）技术进行的相分析。这样做的目的是最大限度地提高强度，同时避免形成残余奥氏体，这可能对模具寿命有害。一旦确定了最佳后处理技术，在第3阶段，将进行拉伸、疲劳和冲击等机械测试，以确定合适的应用。这项工作的成果将有助于vAMC在合金开发方面的研究和开发活动，以实现加拿大模具和压铸行业的持续可持续性。

The proposed project deals with materials characterization of two new commercial alloys: i) Corrax stainless steel and ii) M789 steel. These alloys are specifically designed to be employed in the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process, which combines the printability of maraging steel and the well-known corrosion resistance of stainless steel. Voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Ltd is currently exploring potential applications of these materials in tooling and die cast industries. To determine the industrial parts that may benefit from these alloys, the microstructural behavior and mechanical properties of these materials after heat treatment must be determined. A combination of thermodynamic simulation and experimental work is proposed to identify these alloys' optimum post-processing heat treatment. Phase 1 involves a simulation of phase fractions at various temperatures and cooling rates using thermodynamic software. This activity will be followed by the heat treatment experiments, consisting of solutionizing and aging heat treatment, coupled with phase analysis using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) techniques in Phase 2. The idea is to maximize strength while avoiding the formation of retained austenite that can be detrimental to die life. Once the optimum post-processing technique has been determined, in Phase 3, mechanical tests such as tensile, fatigue, and impact will be carried out to determine suitable applications. This work's output will assist the research and development activities of vAMC in alloy development for the Canadian tooling and die casting industries' continuous sustainability.