Development of an Alternative Alloying Concept for Additive Manufacturing Using PVD Coating

Abstract

New alloys are needed to adapt the material properties and to improve the weldability of arc-based additive manufacturing processes. The classic development of welding filler materials is time-consuming and cost-intensive. For this reason, an alternative alloy concept is investigated and qualified here. This is based on the thin-film coating of welding filler materials by means of PVD coating. An HSLA steel DIN EN ISO 14341-A G 50 7 M21 is used as the base material. This is alloyed with the elements Al, Cr, Nb, Ni and Ti by means of PVD thin-film coating. This procedure represents an alternative alloy concept. In the scope of the qualification, the influence of the process and material properties is investigated, and the alternative alloying concept is compared with the classical alloying concept of secondary metallurgy. The investigations have shown that the thin film coating on the surface of the welding filler metal affects the process properties in the form of a changed arc length. Furthermore, the mechanical properties and the effect on the microstructure morphology were investigated. These were compared in the same chemical composition with a Mn4Ni2CrMo produced by secondary metallurgy. The results are in agreement with regard to the mechanical properties and the effect on the microstructure morphology.

Magnetron Sputtering as a Microstructural Screening Tool for Laser Additive Manufacturing: Study on Ni Superalloys

“…[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] Films can be produced in a matter of hours, with tunable thicknesses ranging from sub-nanometers up to a millimeter, [46][47][48] providing sufficient material for substantial microstructural investigation. Magnetron sputtering has seldom been connected to the field of AM, where a few studies have examined their tandem capabilities, including depositing absorptive coating on reflective feedstock to improve powder-beam interactions, [49] testing of coating adhesion to AM parts, [50] alloying of weld filler material via PVD to improve the weldability of arc-based AM materials, [51] and improving AM part metallization. [52] More recent efforts have coupled sputtering and e-beam remelting to screen compositionally graded spaces of potential binary alloys to mimic PBF microstructures.…”

On the Microstructure Development under Cyclic Temperature Conditions during WAAM of Microalloyed Steels

“…However, this leads to a reduced surface quality of the components, which must be finished using conventional subtractive manufacturing processes such as milling. To simplify this finishing process, new materials with improved cutting properties are currently being developed for additive manufacturing (AM) [12,[16][17][18]. Another advantage of WAAM is the relatively simple realization of multi-material components, also called functionally graded materials.…”