Novel phenomena of graphene secondary dispersion and phase transformation in selective laser melting of 15-5PH/graphene composites

Abstract

15-5PH, a martensitic, precipitation hardening stainless steel, can easily form a martensite structure during rapid solidification, especially in the selective laser melting (SLM) process. In our study, the 15-5PH/Gr composites with different mass ratios (0 wt%, 0.1 wt%, 0.2 wt%, 0.5 wt%) of graphene nanoplates (GNPs) were successfully prepared using SLM technology. Through the observation of optical microscopy images and Raman spectra, it is discovered that the GNPs are uniformly dispersed in the 15-5PH/Gr composites. Based on this phenomenon, a flow model is established to explain the process of the secondary dispersion of the GNPs in the molten pool at high temperatures, and then we come up with a mechanism for it. Besides, it is found that GNPs have a strong inhabiting effect on phase transformation of 15-5PH/Gr composites during the rapid solidification of the SLM process, and the inhibition will be enhanced as the GNPs content increases. The mechanical properties of metal matrix composites (MMCs) are significantly influenced by the changes in phase and additive content. According to the mechanical property tests on the 15-5PH/Gr composites, it is found that their ductility and impact toughness have maximum values of 41.1 ± 1.3% and 194.9 ± 3.1 J/cm 2 respectively, and the friction coefficient of the 15-5PH/Gr composites have a minimum value of 0.34. Compared with the SLM-ed 15-5PH, the improvement of mechanical properties of the 15-5PH/Gr composites on ductility, impact toughness and wear resistance are increased by 130.9%, 97.3% and 45.2% respectively.