Optimization of Aging Temperature and Heat-Treatment Pathways in Additively Manufactured 17-4PH Stainless Steel

Abstract

This study investigates the tensile behaviors of additively manufactured (AM) 17-4PH stainless steels heat-treated within various temperature ranges from 400 °C to 700 °C in order to identify the effective aging temperature. Despite an aging treatment of 400–460 °C increasing the retained austenite content, an enhancement of the tensile properties was achieved without a strength-ductility trade-off owing to precipitation hardening by the Cu particles. Due to the intricate evolution of the microstructure, aging treatments above 490 °C led to a loss in yield strength and ductility. A considerable rise in strength and a decrease in ductility were brought about by the increase in the fraction of precipitation-hardened martensitic matrix in aging treatments over 640 °C. The impact of heat-treatment pathways on aging effectiveness and tensile anisotropy was then examined. Direct aging at 482 °C for an hour had hardly any effect on wrought 17-4PH, but it increased the yield strength of AM counterparts from 436–457 to 588–604 MPa. A solid-solution treatment at 1038 °C for one hour resulted in a significant drop in the austenite fraction, which led to an increase in the yield (from 436–457 to 841–919 MPa) and tensile strengths (from 1106–1127 to 1254–1256 MPa) with a sacrifice in ductility. Improved strength and ductility were realized by a solid-solution followed by an aging treatment, achieving 1371–1399 MPa. The tensile behaviors of AM 17-4PH were isotropic both parallel and perpendicular to the building direction.