Microstructure, mechanical behaviour and strengthening mechanisms in Hastelloy X manufactured by electron beam and laser beam powder bed fusion

Understanding the microstructure and mechanical properties associated with different metal additive manufacturing techniques is crucial for its wide-scale acceptance in industries. In this work, we aim to understand the microstructural variations and mechanical properties of Hastelloy X (HX) manufactured by electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB) and laser-based powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) process. The size and shape of melt pool and grains were analysed and correlated to final microstructure. The elevated powder bed temperature during PBF-EB was found to promote the formation of grain-boundary precipitates. The higher thermal gradient and cooling rate in PBF-LB resulted in higher tensile residual stress (sigma(max) = 447 +/- 10 MPa) within the parts in comparison to PBF-EB parts (sigma(max) = 16 +/- 13 MPa). The asfabricated PBF-EB HX specimens showed a lower tensile strength of 590 MPa but a higher elongation of 60%, whereas its PBF-LB counterparts demonstrated a significantly higher tensile strength of 825 MPa but a lower elongation of 38%. This notable difference in the mechanical behaviour of PBF-EB and PBF-LB built HX was attributed to the columnar microstructure, < 100 > crystallographic texture and underlying strengthening mechanisms. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of PBF-EB and PBF-LB built HX specimens were predicted using multiple strengthening mechanisms, which demonstrated a good agreement with that of experimentally measured. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study aimed to understand the microstructural variations and mechanical properties of Hastelloy X (HX) manufactured by electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB) and laser-based powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) processes. It was found that the different processing techniques resulted in significant differences in the mechanical behavior of the HX specimens.