Fatigue Cracking of Additively Manufactured Materials-Process and Material Perspectives

Featured Application Improved utilization of inherent lifetime of conventionally and additively manufactured commercial materials; replacement of austenitic and/or Duplex stainless steels by novel, lower cost ferritic (HiperFer) steels in (petro)chemical and power engineering; material, component, and manufacturing process design for increased safety margins of AM materials. Strong efforts are made internationally to optimize the process control of laser additive manufacturing processes. For this purpose, advanced detectors and monitoring software are being developed to control the quality of production. However, commercial suppliers of metal powders and part manufacturers are essentially focused on well-established materials. This article demonstrates the potential of optimized process control. Furthermore, we outline the development of a new high temperature structural steel, tailored to best utilize the advantages of additive manufacturing techniques. In this context, the impact of production-induced porosity on fatigue strength of austenitic 316L is presented. Additionally, we discuss the first conceptual results of a novel ferritic steel, named HiperFer (High Performance Ferrite), which was designed for increased fatigue strength. This ferritic, Laves phase-strengthened, stainless steel could be used for a wide range of structural components in power and (petro)chemical engineering at maximum temperatures ranging from about 580 to 650 degrees C. This material benefits from in situ heat treatment and counteracts process-related defects by "reactive" crack obstruction mechanisms, hampering both crack initiation and crack propagation. In this way, increased fatigue resistance and safety can be achieved.