Experimental optimization on mechanical properties of 18Ni-300 maraging steel produced by direct metal laser sintering

Abstract

Maraging steel material characteristics are greatly affected by build orientation and scanning strategies during manufacturing. This research aims to examine the effect of various build orientations and scan strategies on the ultimate strength and microhardness of 18 Ni-300 grade maraging steel. The maraging steel is made using a technology called direct metal laser sintering. Using the Analysis of Variance approach, the effects of processing factors like build orientation, scan techniques, and type of process on ultimate strength, microhardness, and roughness are optimized. The properties tend to be greater in the horizontal orientation when using the XY scan strategy as a result of thermal history variations,. The mechanical performances of maraging steel components in terms of strength values observed were lower in the vertical position compared to all other orientations. The tests are carried out using an L27 orthogonal array and a Taguchi design of experiment. Build orientation XZ, scan method XY, and Solution-aging-aging(SAAT) has the most significant influence on the final ultimate strength, microhardness, and roughness of all the input factors. A2B2C3 is the optimal combination level of control factors. Additionally, a percentage inaccuracy was identified after conducting confirmation tests on the most prominent experimental data.