Influence of Laser Additive Manufacturing and Laser Polishing on Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of High-Strength Maraging Steel Metal Materials

Abstract

To increase the surface quality of the high-strength maraging steel metal materials, a new method of executing the additive manufacturing process and subtraction polishing process of maraging steel metal materials was studied. The mechanical properties of maraging steel metal materials before and after laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) polishing were compared and analyzed. The influence of laser parameters on the formability of high-strength MS metal materials was studied, with MS additive parts successfully prepared. The initial surfaces had roughness values of 6.198–7.92 μm. The metal additive manufacturing parts were polished with double laser beams. Confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction were used to obtain the microstructure and phase composition of the microstructures. The microhardness of high-strength maraging forming parts by using a microhardness tester and the mechanical properties were analyzed. The results showed that the surface roughness was considerably reduced to lengthen the service life of the high-strength MS metal materials from an initial roughness of Sa = 6.3 μm to Sa = 0.98 μm, with the surface hardness increased and the martensite content decreased after using double-laser-beam polishing.