Effect of Preheating Temperature on the Porosity and Microstructure of Martensitic Hot Work Tool Steel Manufactured with L-PBF

Additive manufacturing (AM) brings the possibility to produce tools with a complex design of the cooling channels to achieve desired properties in the working piece. However, AM of tool steels can be challenging due to the residual stresses and crack formation which may be mitigated by optimizing process parameters. In this study, process parameters development in the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) of a martensitic hot work tool steel was under investigation. Having power, scanning speed and hatch distance as variables, a design of experiment was performed to map a process window to produce dense components. In addition, the same sets of process parameters were applied at different preheating temperatures to study and discuss the effect of three preheating temperatures on the porosity, microstructure and hardness of the manufactured components. The characterization of the parts was done using optical and scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction and micro-hardness test. The results showed that the martensitic hot work tool steel can be manufactured with L-PBF with high densities above 99.95%.