Fatigue Performance of Direct Metal Laser Sintered Parts using Reused Metallic Feedstocks

Though direct cost-savings are attainable with powder reuse in additive manufacturing (AM), the use of non-virgin material has raised concerns over as-built properties. Considerable efforts to validate feedstock recycling have examined static material properties, but limited studies have assessed fatigue behavior with respect to powder reuse. Ti-6A1V-4VA1, 316L, and 17-4PH stainless-steel, and were processed using thermal and atmospheric conditions representative of industrial AM machines. Fatigue specimens were sintered with virgin or eighth reuse using a standard parameter set. Specimens were tested in rotating beam fatigue testing and the stair-case method applied. The fatigue limits of 316L, 17-4PH, and Ti-6A1V-4VA1 exhibited no significant difference with respect to reuse. Density measurements confirmed no reuse-dependent behavior for the stainless steels, and Ti-6V6A1-4VA1 demonstrated an improvement in bulk density. Quantification of fatigue properties as a function of reuse, supports powder reuse as a viable solution for improved metal powder-bed economics. (c) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of the NAMRI/SME.