Additive manufacturing (AM) of piercing punches by the PBF method of metal 3D printing using mold steel powder materials

The purpose of this study is to develop additive manufacturing fabrication for high-strength punches. After screening the powder material and the manufacturing method, a solution possessing excellent mechanical properties was selected for manufacturing. Additive manufacturing specimens and comparative specimens were fabricated using metal materials while the comparative specimens were produced with bulk materials in the same grade as the powder materials. The specimens were tested to determine their mechanical properties. The additive manufacturing specimens were produced through the PBF method for three kinds of die steel powder materials: H13, M300 and KP4. In the experimental section, tests for density, hardness, and toughness were included. SEM and EDS analysis were also used in this study to analyze and observe the microstructure of the additive manufacturing specimens. Considering the mechanical properties test and the SEM and EDS results, it was easy to determine that M300 was the most suitable material for high-strength punches. It not only possesses better mechanical properties, but also a better microstructure than the other two materials. The punch fabricated by the M300 and PBF additive manufacturing methods exhibited good performance in durability testing. In this study, the use of 3D printing technology to produce high-strength punches with high-strength die steel powder material has become a reality. In the future, the process parameters should be optimized and post-processing of punches should be added to obtain additive-manufacturing punches with better mechanical properties.