Selective Laser Melting of 30CrMnSiA Steel: Laser Energy Density Dependence of Microstructural and Mechanical Properties

Three-dimensional parts of the 30CrMnSiA steel were successfully fabricated using selective laser melting (SLM). The microstructures and mechanical properties of the SLM-processed 30CrMnSiA samples were investigated by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that the microstructures of the 30CrMnSiA samples consist mainly of lath martensite and acicular martensite. The value of the surface roughness decreases with increasing laser energy density (LED) before it reaches a minimum and then increases with further increasing LED. The relative density, microhardness and ultimate tensile strength of the SLM-processed samples initially increase and then decrease with increasing LED. By taking the relative density, surface roughness, microhardness and ultimate tensile strength into account, the optimized LED should be in the range of 46.15-51.28 J mm(-3) for the SLM-processed 30CrMnSiA alloys. In addition, the differences in the microstructures and mechanical properties between the conventionally wrought 30CrMnSiA sample and SLM-processed 30CrMnSiA samples were also studied.