Influence of Microstructure and Defects on Mechanical Properties of AISI H13 Manufactured by Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion

Electron beam powder bed fusion (E-PBF) is a well-known additive manufacturing process. Components are realized based on layer-by-layer melting of metal powder. Due to the high degree of design freedom, additive manufacturing came into focus of tooling industry, especially for tools with sophisticated internal cooling channels. The present work focuses on the relationships between processing, microstructure evolution, chemical composition and mechanical properties of a high alloyed tool steel AISI H13 (1.2344, X40CrMoV5-1) processed by E-PBF. The specimens are free of cracks, however, lack of fusion defects are found upon use of non-optimized parameters finally affecting the mechanical properties detrimentally. Specimens built based on suitable parameters show a relatively fine grained bainitic/martensitic microstructure, finally resulting in a high ultimate strength and an even slightly higher failure strain compared to conventionally processed and heat treated AISI H13.