Integration of additive manufacturing and thermomechanical processing toward a hybrid production route for PH13-8Mo stainless steel

In the current study, PH13-8Mo is fabricated using laser-powder bed fusion and arc-directed energy deposition additive manufacturing (AM) processes. The microstructure and mechanical properties in the as-built and isothermally heat-treated conditions are studied. The isothermal heat treatment includes direct aging at 530 degree celsius to form 8-NiAl precipitates. The AM alloys (in the as-built condition) are then thermomechanically processed at the isothermal aging temperature to promote dynamic aging and dislocation multiplication. The resulting mechanical properties are found to be superior to the heat-treated conditions and correlated to the microstructure. This study paves the pathway toward developing a novel hybrid manufacturing route to fabricate alloys with exotic mechanical properties.