Evaluation of structure and magnetic properties of maraging steel powder feedstock for additive manufacturing of magnetic components

Abstract

We investigated the structure as well as the magnetic properties of a commercial maraging steel powder feedstock—EOS MS1—and elucidated the stability of supersaturated martensite phase upon thermal-treatment. The investigation unfolds the potential reusability/recyclability of the powder feedstock, which is essential from an economic as well as an environmental perspective in the manufacturing of magnetic components. The as-supplied powder feedstock predominantly constituted martensite (lattice parameter ∼0.2881 nm). The coercivity (HCI), remanence (MR), and magnetic saturation (MS) of the powder feedstock were estimated as 3.03 ± 0.12 kA/m, 1.4 ± 0.1 A m2/kg, and 176.0 ± 2.0 Am2/kg, respectively. The supersaturated martensite phase was stable during thermal treatment. The MS, MR, and HCI of the thermally-treated powders, on an average, were ∼1% more, ∼0.8 times less, and ∼0.9 times less, respectively, than the as-supplied powder feedstock: thermal-treatment marginally enhanced the soft-magnetic behavior. The similarities in the structure and the magnetic properties between the as-supplied and thermally-treated powders suggest that the powder feedstock is reusable/recyclable in the manufacturing of magnetic components.