Heterogeneous effect of aging temperature on the fatigue life of additively manufactured thin-walled 18Ni300 maraging steel tubular specimen
Aleksander Karolczuk, Andrzej Kurek, Michał Böhm, Szymon Derda, M. Prażmowski, Krzysztof Kluger, Krzysztof Żak, Łukasz Pejkowski, Jan Seyda
Abstract
Optimizing the geometry for material savings, or heat transfer, can yield thin-walled additively manufactured parts. A wall thickness of only a few hatching spaces can be fabricated using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). However, the unmachined surface quality and subsurface defects in the low-thickness wall put the load-bearing capacity of the manufactured part under scrutiny. This study aimed to determine the fatigue and quasi-static strengths of nominally 0.5-mm thick tubular specimens of LPBF 18Ni300 maraging steel with respect to the aging temperature (AT). The experimental tests were conducted on six batches of unmachined specimens: non-aged and age-hardened for 6 h at different temperatures, i.e., 450, 470, 490, 530, and 585 °C. The void distribution and specimen surface were characterized using X-ray micro-computed tomography. . The heterogeneous effect of AT on fatigue life was recognized by a novel application of the Gaussian process for regression. The mechanical properties of a 0.5-mm thick tubular specimen were equal to or higher than those of a full cross-section specimen. Furthermore, the optimal AT to obtain the highest fatigue strength was 520 °C for low-cycle fatigue, decreasing to 480 °C for high-cycle fatigue.