Surface Modification of Additively Manufactured 18% Nickel Maraging Steel by Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Ball Burnishing
Iñigo Flores Ituarte, Mika Salmi, Suvi Papula, Juha Huuki, Björn Hemming, Éric Coatanéa, Seppo Nurmi, Iikka Virkkunen
Abstract
Abstract The scope of this research is to characterize and optimize the vibration-assisted ball burnishing of additively manufactured 18% Nickel Maraging steel for tooling applications. We evaluate the suitability of vibration-assisted ball burnishing as an alternative method to post-process additively manufactured tool steel. To do so, we assessed a single pass post-processing technique to enhance surface roughness, surface micro-hardness, and residual stress state. Results show that ultrasonic burnishing after age hardening functionalizes additively manufactured surfaces for tooling applications creating a beneficial compressive residual stress state on the surface. The surface micro-hardness (HV1) varied between 503 and 630 HV1, and the average surface roughness (Ra) varied between 1.31 and 0.14 µm, depending on process parameters with a maximum productivity rate of 41.66 cm2/min making it an alternative approach to functionalize additively manufactured tool components.