Melting mode driven tuning of local microstructure and hardness in laser powder bed fusion of 18Ni-300 maraging steel

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of 18Ni-300 maraging steel has attracted abundant popularity in both academia and industry due to its superior mechanical properties and printability. Several studies showcased the optimization of process parameters based on relative density, but there is little exploration on tailoring the as-built microstructure. In this study, fully dense maraging steel samples are fabricated with three different melting modes, and they are examined for the cellular solidification microstructure, retained austenite, and the effect of cyclic reheating, the three characteristics that are unique to additively manufactured maraging steel. Microstructural discrepancies among the samples are traced back to the different cooling rate and residual heat, both of which are ultimately determined by the energy input. The findings suggest that a reasonably low energy input yields a microstructure containing fine cell size and little retained austenite, leading to higher hardness. Nanoindentation mapping reveals that the main bodies of all samples are strengthened around 13%, likely because of the formation of precipitation zone due to four to five layers of subsequent cyclic reheating. This study demonstrates the important opportunity for microstructural tailoring, and consequently, engineering the mechanical properties of maraging steel via LPBF by controlling the solidification and subsequent cyclic reheating, which are both attributed to the printing parameters deployed.