Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of Selective Laser Melted 17-4 PH Stainless Steel

The present article focuses on the mechanical properties and microstructural features of Selective Laser Melted (SLM) 17-4 precipitation hardening (PH) stainless steel (SS) as well as their comparison to conventionally built materials. The topics investigated are the effects of different building orientations and post-fabrication heat treatment (solution annealing and aging) on the mechanical and microstructural characteristics of samples fabricated by SLM. Yield and ultimate tensile strengths of SLM-produced 17-4 PH SS were found to be lower than those of wrought materials (H900 condition). In addition, building orientations showed a noticeable effect on tensile properties. Presence of defects, such as pores resulting from entrapped gas, un-melted regions, and powder particles resulting from lack of fusion were the main reasons for lower elongation to failure of SLM-produced 17-4PH SS in this study.