The Influence of Layer Thickness on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of M300 Maraging Steel Additively Manufactured by LENS(R) Technology

This work investigates the effect of layer thickness on the microstructure and mechanical properties of M300 maraging steel produced by Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS(R)) technique. The microstructure was characterized using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical properties were characterized by tensile tests and microhardness measurements. The porosity and mechanical properties were found to be highly dependent on the layer thickness. Increasing the layer thickness increased the porosity of the manufactured parts while degrading their mechanical properties. Moreover, etched samples revealed a fine cellular dendritic microstructure; decreasing the layer thickness caused the microstructure to become fine-grained. Tests showed that for samples manufactured with the chosen laser power, a layer thickness of more than 0.75 mm is too high to maintain the structural integrity of the deposited material.