Optimal Process Conditions for Powder Bed Fusion and Analysis of Properties of Maraging Steel

Powder bed fusion (PBF), an additive manufacturing technology, has been widely used in the manufacturing field to create complex designs. Most PBF process studies have investigated the effect of laser power and scan speed on the mechanical properties and porosity of microstructure. In this study, five process conditions were selected to obtain superior properties of maraging steel, which were validated by absolute density analysis, hardness, and tensile tests. Maraging steel exhibits diverse mechanical properties depending on the heat-treatment combinations of solution annealing and aging. Mechanical property tests were conducted to compare the various temperature properties of the fabricated maraging steel under optimal conditions. Maraging steel exhibited a hardness of 612.7 HV and a tensile strength of 1925.6 MPa at 25 °C, and the strength was greater than 1000 MPa at temperatures below 600 °C. Additionally, the applicability of a fabricated die for maraging steel was investigated. The maraging steel die and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) D2 were analyzed by a forging process based on die load data sensing with a piezoelectric bolt. The maximum loads of the sensor in horizontal and vertical directions were 24.7% and 15.8% lower for the fabricated die than those of AISI D2. The findings confirm that the fabricated maraging steel is a suitable manufacturing process for commercial processes and can be used to manufacture dies with complex shapes. Graphical Abstract