Effect of nickel – Graphene addition on the 3D printed 17-4 PH stainless steel

Abstract

In this work, 3D printing method was used to prepare 17-4 PH SS/additives samples, these additives represented by nickel (Ni), graphene (G) and nickel-graphene (Ni – G) with the volume ratios of 2.5 %, 5 % and 5 % respectively. The printed samples were characterized using XRD, SEM with EDS and optical microscope. These characterization methods showed the good incorporation between the base material (17-4 PH SS) and additive materials (Ni, G and Ni – G) through the new peaks appeared in XRD analysis, the homogenous distribution of particles in SEM images and elemental analysis in EDS for 3D printed samples.The measured properties indicated the variation in density with different additives to get lowest density for 17-4 PH SS/Ni – G coated sample (7.2516 g cm−3) confirming the good incorporation among the components of this sample after 3D printing process that can be candidate for bioapplication. Rockwell hardness also measured to give the lowest hardness for 17-4 PH SS/Ni – G coated sample that equal to 46.36 which is closed for the hardness of human bone that ranged from 33.30 HV for the head to 43.82 HV for the diaphysis. Some cracks that observed in optical microscopy of 17-4 PH SS/Ni – G coated sample can be share in osseointegration inside human body to get biocompatibility.