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Influence of Heat Treatment on the Microstructure and Hardness of 17-4PH Stainless Steel Fabricated Through Direct Energy Deposition

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Abstract

AISI 630 stainless steel (ASTM A564-89, 17-4PH) is widely used in die-casting molds owing to its excellent wear and heat resistance. Recently, a cooling strengthening technology that densifies the microstructure of the casting through rapid cooling has been developed. Additive manufacturing can be used to fabricate casting molds with complex three-dimensional cooling channels. 17-4PH stainless steel, a martensitic precipitation hardening steel, can be subjected to heat treatment to improve its mechanical properties, which are highly dependent on its microstructure. Specifically, the formation of martensite and δ-ferrite, and the coarsening of Cu-rich precipitates considerably decreases the hardness of 17-4PH stainless steel. In this study, we investigate the microstructural evolution of 17-4PH stainless steel during aging and solution heat treatment processes and determine their effect on the formation of martensite and δ-ferrite. Furthermore, the effect of heat treatment on the microstructure and hardness of the steel is studied experimentally. Accordingly, three specimens—as-built, H-1150-M (aging heat treatment), and SH-1150-M (solution and aging heat treatment)—were analyzed and compared herein. The results revealed that the martensite fraction was the highest in the aged H-1150-M specimen, resulting in a high hardness. In contrast, in the SH-1150-M specimen, the austenite and δ-ferrite fractions were higher than the martensite fraction, resulting in a lower hardness than those of the other two specimens. Therefore, aging heat treatment without solution heat treatment can effectively increase the hardness of additively manufactured 17-4PH stainless steel.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Industrial Technology Innovation Program (Grant No. 20013122; Development of manufacturing technology for casting molds with 3D cooling channels to improve the quality and productivity of automobile parts) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE), Republic of Korea. This work was also supported by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE), Republic of Korea (Grant No. P0002019; Human Resource Development Program for Industrial Innovation).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon, 34158, Republic of Korea

    Woong Choo, Marzieh Ebrahimian & Jeoung Han Kim

  2. Faculty of Industry-Academic Convergence, Hanbat National University, Daejeon, 34158, Republic of Korea

    Kyunsuk Choi

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  1. Woong Choo
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  2. Marzieh Ebrahimian
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Correspondence to Marzieh Ebrahimian or Jeoung Han Kim.

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Choo, W., Ebrahimian, M., Choi, K. et al. Influence of Heat Treatment on the Microstructure and Hardness of 17-4PH Stainless Steel Fabricated Through Direct Energy Deposition. Met. Mater. Int. 29, 1750–1760 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12540-022-01333-2

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