The investigation of microstructure and mechanical properties of tool steel produced by selective laser melting technology

This paper presents study of microstructure of the material (tool steel 150Cr14) produced by the selective laser melting (SLM) technology. The chemical composition analysis and grain size measurements of the initial powder tool steel 150Cr14 were performed. The bulk density and flowability of the powder were investigated. Specimens were built under various building parameters such as laser scanning speed and laser power and tested on uniaxial tension. In this study, the effect of the SLM parameters on the mechanical properties of tool steel is investigated. Due to less surface quality limitations of SLM technology compared with conventional production techniques specimens were subjected to set of tests including measurement of surface roughness, inspection of inner structure which are influenced from building parameters.