The quick-emerging paradigm of additive manufacturing technology has revealed salient advantages in enabling the tailored-design of structural components with more exceptional performances over ordinary subtractive processing routines. As a peculiar feature, sub-micro cellular structures widely exist in additively manufactured (AM) metallic materials. This phenomenon primarily appears with high-density dislocations and segregated elements or precipitates at the cellular boundaries. The discovery of novel metastable substructures in various alloys through numerous investigations has proven their substantial effects on the engineering properties of AM components. This paper reviews the most recent research momentum regarding the formation mechanisms (elemental segregation, dislocation cell and oxide inclusion), the kinetics of the size and morphology, the growth orientation and the thermodynamic stability of these cellular structures by taking AM austenitic stainless steel as an exemplary material. Another topic of concern here is the inherent correlation between the unique cellular microstructure and the corresponding mechanical properties (strength, ductility, fatigue, etc.) and corrosion responses (passivity, irradiation damage, hydrogen embrittlement, etc.) for this category of AM materials. The design, control, and optimization of cellular structures for additive manufacturing techniques are expected to inspire new strategies for advancing high-performance structural alloy development.

About metastable cellular structure in additively manufactured austenitic stainless steels

Laser cladding and surface alloying are surface modification techniques employed to fabricate thin coating/layer with improved surface properties or to refurbish surface defects by forming highly resistant gradient coatings/layers on the substrate. High energy density and cooling rates make these techniques suitable to process a wide range of materials. In recent years, due to the development of high power lasers, improved controlling and delivery mechanisms have attracted extensive research in laser surface treatment. Researchers have analyzed various process factors to improve process performance. The experimental and theoretical studies show that the performance of laser cladding and surface alloying techniques can be enhanced significantly by the proper selection of input process parameters. This paper summarizes various research works carried out so far in the area of laser cladding and surface alloying of different materials and their applications. It reports the research outcomes of experimental and theoretical studies conducted to improve the process performance. A brief introduction of various laser surface treatment processes is also included. Besides these various problems, their solutions and trend for future works have also been discussed.

Recent trends in laser cladding and surface alloying

Additive manufacturing is an emerging technology that challenges traditional manufacturing methods. However, the corrosion behaviour of additively manufactured parts must be considered if additive techniques are to find widespread application. In this paper, we review relationships between the unique microstructures and the corresponding corrosion behaviour of several metallic alloys fabricated by selective laser melting, one of the most popular powder-bed additive technologies for metals and alloys. Common issues related to corrosion in selective laser melted parts, such as pores, molten pool boundaries, surface roughness and anisotropy, are discussed. Widely printed alloys, including Ti-based, Al-based and Fe-based alloys, are selected to illustrate these relationships, and the corrosion properties of alloys produced by selective laser melting are summarised and compared to their conventionally processed counterparts.

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Corrosion of metallic materials fabricated by selective laser melting

During the additive manufacturing (AM) process, energy is transferred from the energy beam to the processed material. The high-energy input and uneven temperature distribution result in the high-temperature gradient, large thermal stress, and warping deformation. The scanning strategy, one of the representative AM processing parameters, plays an important role in the microstructures, mechanical properties, and residual stresses of 3D printed parts. It is necessary to review the current state of research about scanning strategy in additive manufacturing, and this paper seeks to address this need. This review mainly focuses on the scanning strategies in selective laser melting process. Various scanning strategies and their effects on mechanical properties, microstructures, and residual stresses of selective laser melted parts are summarized. Finally, some suggestions on the optimization of scanning strategy for better performance are provided based on the above analysis.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00170-021-06810-3.pdf

Scanning strategy in selective laser melting (SLM): a review

Fracture and fatigue in additively manufactured metals

Microstructure of selective laser melted AlSi10Mg alloy

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-AlSi10Mg composites were fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM). The influence of CNTs on the density, microstructure, and strength of SLM CNT-AlSi10Mg composites was inv...

CNT-reinforced AlSi10Mg composite by selective laser melting : microstructural and mechanical properties

Microstructure evolution of 0·2C–5Mn steel during the intercritical annealing at different temperatures was studied. It was found that the microstructure gradually evolved from martensite structure into a structure consisted of austenite and ferrite during the intercritical annealing process. The retained austenite volume fraction reached the maximum value of 36·5% after about 10 min annealing at 680°C. It was also found that carbides precipitated during initial annealing stage and gradually dissolved during following annealing process for all annealing temperatures; and interestingly, the fresh martensite was found, indicating that part of the newly forming austenite was unstable and would transform into martensite when quenching. Based on the microstructural analysis and the calculation by Thermo-Calc software, it was proposed that the different evolution behaviours of the microstructure during annealing were not only controlled by the thermal kinetics of the austenite, but also affected significantly b...

Effect of annealing temperature and time on microstructure evolution of 0·2C–5Mn steel during intercritical annealing process

The microstructure and fatigue and tensile properties of 316L stainless steel fabricated via laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) were investigated. Two 316L stainless steel specimens with different loading directions which are either perpendicular to or parallel to building direction were prepared by L-PBF process. The results of X-ray diffraction tomography showed that there was no significant difference in morphology and size/distribution of the defects in the HB and VB samples. Since long axis of columnar grains is generally parallel to the build direction, the fatigue crack encounters more grain boundaries in VB samples under cyclic loading, which led to enhanced fatigue resistance of VB samples compared with HB sample. In contrast to HB sample, the VB sample has a higher fatigue strength due to a higher resistance to localized plastic deformation under cyclic loading. The differences in fatigue properties of L-PBF 316L SS with different build directions were predominantly controlled by solidification microstructures.

Effect of Build Direction on Fatigue Performance of L-PBF 316L Stainless Steel

Ti–Ta alloys have been widely studied for biomedical applications due to their high biocompatibility and corrosion resistance. In this work, nearly fully dense and in situ alloyed Ti–50 wt% Ta samples were fabricated by the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of mechanically mixed powders. With increased exposure time, and thereby increased laser energy density, insoluble Ta particles were almost dissolved, and a Ti–50 wt% Ta alloy was formed. Cellular and dendritic structures were formed due to constitutional undercooling, which was caused by the high cooling rate of LPBF process. Both retained β phases and α″ phases were observed in the LPBFed Ti–50 wt% Ta alloy. The α″ phase was found at the boundary of the cellular structures, where the tantalum content was not high enough to suppress the bcc lattice transition completely but could suppress the β phase → α′ phase transition.

Congcong Zhao

Papers

Microstructure of selective laser melted AlSi10Mg alloy

CNT-reinforced AlSi10Mg composite by selective laser melting : microstructural and mechanical properties

Effect of annealing temperature and time on microstructure evolution of 0·2C–5Mn steel during intercritical annealing process

Effect of Build Direction on Fatigue Performance of L-PBF 316L Stainless Steel

Microstructure of a Ti-50 wt% Ta alloy produced via laser powder bed fusion