Investigation into the influence of boronizing on the wear behavior of additively manufactured Inconel 625 alloy at elevated temperature

Directed energy deposition (DED) technology is a cost-effective additive manufacturing method widely used in the production of complex-shaped parts made of various engineering alloys as well as superalloys due to its advantages such as high deposition efficiency, low-cost and flexible production possibilities. However, in addition to the low surface hardness found in wrought superalloys, the very high heat input and severe elemental segregation during the manufacture of superalloys by DED often result in diminishing of wear performance further. In this study, a simultaneous heat treatment and boronizing (980 degrees C 1 h) was applied to Inconel 625 part produced by the GMAW-based DED process in a single process in order to improve its microstructure and its tribological properties. The effects of boronizing applied after the DED process on the microstructure, some mechanical properties and wear behavior (both at room temperature and 500 degrees C) were investigated.