Advanced Mechanical Strength in Post Heat Treated SLM 2507 at Room and High Temperature Promoted by Hard/Ductile Sigma Precipitates

Duplex stainless steel, 71 wt.% austenite, 13 wt.% ferrite and 16 wt.% sigma, was made upon heat treating of fully ferritic as-built selective laser melted (SLM) 2507 stainless steel at 1200 °C. Formation of sigma phase in the heat treated SLM 2507 was investigated using optical microscopy...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kamran Saeidi, Sajid Alvi, Frantisek Lofaj, Valeri Ivanov Petkov, Farid Akhtar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-02-01
Series:Metals
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/9/2/199
Description
Summary:Duplex stainless steel, 71 wt.% austenite, 13 wt.% ferrite and 16 wt.% sigma, was made upon heat treating of fully ferritic as-built selective laser melted (SLM) 2507 stainless steel at 1200 &#176;C. Formation of sigma phase in the heat treated SLM 2507 was investigated using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The heat treated SLM 2507 demonstrated a yield strength of 686 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 920 MPa and an elongation of 1.8% at room temperature with a brittle fracture morphology. Precipitation of sigma phase during heat treatment and slow cooling improved the mechanical and wear properties at high temperatures (1200 &#176;C and 800 &#176;C, respectively). The tensile strength and elongation of the heat treated SLM 2507 was measured 400 MPa and 20% as compared to casted duplex steel with 19 MPa and 30% elongation at 1200 &#176;C. The 20 times higher mechanical strength as compared to casted duplex steel was attributed to sigma precipitates. Tribological behaviour of heat treated duplex SLM 2507 containing sigma at 800 &#176;C showed very low wear rate of 4.5 &#215; 10<sup>&#8722;5</sup> mm<sup>3</sup>/mN compared to casted duplex steel with 1.6 &#215; 10<sup>&#8722;4</sup> mm<sup>3</sup>/mN.
ISSN:2075-4701